A Daughter's Will
by PilotGirl01
Summary: Sequel to An Orphan's Life. It's been a year since Elysia found her father and now they're living a peaceful life. But the questions of her and her mother's past have yet to be answered and attacks against her forces them all to go back and find out what
1. Default Chapter

_A Daughter's Will_

Disclaimer: Two fanfics later and I still don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Sad, but what're you going to do? Go on... Quit reading this...

**A/N: **So, here's the sequel to "An Orphan's Life". This one will more or less answer the many, many, MANY questions that were brought up the first time around and perhaps be more in depth... I'm not too sure right now, as this is just the first chapter. So, rather than just babble on some more, I'll just go ahead and start this fic.

* * *

It was another slow night at the Sank Kingdom Police Station. December was usually a slow month to begin with, but tonight was especially boring. Many officers were sent home early, leaving the station desolate.

One lone officer was seated in her usual spot, a lukewarm coffee to her right, her badge and various items from her wallet strung all over the desk to her left. She typed at the computer she considered hers, searching through the many databases the universe had, trying to find as much information as she could. Anything titled "confidential" was gold.

This particular night she was looking for anything that had to do with the twelve-year-old murder of a woman, her husband, and their three sons.

Three sets of footsteps at the desk caught her attention, but she kept her gaze on the computer. She'd really rather not deal with more stupid complaints of noisy neighbors or dirty lawns.

The men, she could tell by the smell of sweat and some other undecipherable odor, didn't get the hint.

One of them, a man who was fairly tall, with brown hair speckled with bits of gray and white, picked up a nearby pen and studied it closely as he asked in a deep, rough voice," Are you Sandra Burns?"

The officer looked at the man for a second with her eyes and shrugged. "Isn't that what it says on the nameplate there?"

One of the man's companions, a younger man who was obviously just a lackey, glanced at the gold nameplate at the front of the desk to make the verification. The first man stared blankly at her, as the third one just glared.

She frowned slightly, then went back to her search.

The first man put the pen down, a bit too hard in an attempt to keep her attention, and leaned against the desk. "We need to ask you a few questions."

The officer sighed and turned slightly to face them. "And who are you?"

"Let's not bother ourselves with such trivial matters." He straightened himself up and looked her directly in the eyes. "Now, then, do you recall about this time last year, a young orphaned girl coming into this very station?"

The officer started to get an uneasy feeling and slowly turned to face the men better. "A lot of people come into this station. I can't be too sure about what you're asking me." She was lying, but she couldn't let them know that.

Unfortunately, the man knew. "I think you are pretty sure who we're talking about. She was about _this_ tall," He raised his hand to a few inches lower than his chest," honey colored hair, dark blue eyes, and a striking resemblance to a certain deceased vice foreign minister."

At this point, the officer knew something was definitely wrong with this current meeting. "What's so important about her?" she asked, casually reaching down under her desk to put the silent alarm on.

The man looked around the room and gave a shrug. "Well, it would appear she has gotten a bit of money and flew the coop. What gets me is how she even got the money in the first place, as she is an orphan." The man looked directly into the officer's eyes. "Perhaps a certain computer hacking officer could tell me how?"

Sandra kept a straight face as she continued to move her hand around blindly under the desk, trying to find the cursed switch. "You can't prove that."

The man leaned down on top of the desk and smiled a bit. "I don't think I have to." His smile quickly disappeared as he narrowed his eyes at her. "Now, tell me where the girl went, as I do recall her getting a shuttle ticket."

The officer gave a silent cry of relief as she found the switch. She stood up quickly, trying to figure out how she was going to get out of this alive. "I don't need to tell you anything."

The man quickly pulled out a gun and aimed it at her head. "Oh, but I think you do."

She froze, unsure of what to do.

He stared at her emotionlessly as he kept a steady aim on her. "I'm only going to ask you once more. Where did the girl go?"

She moved her fingers to flip the switch.

The man gave a slight smirk. "And don't think that that silly alarm will work. We disabled the entire alarm system and any colleagues of yours that _were_ here are dead." His face went blank again and he stared at her coldly. "Answer me and you won't end up like them."

She tried to stay calm as she stared back at him. "How do I know that?"

The man gave a bit of a shrug. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we?"

She stood silently for a few minutes, not knowing what to do.

The man cocked the gun and studied her reaction.

She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled as she blurted out, "Winner... I sent her to Quatre Winner."

The man smiled triumphantly and looked to his companions. "You got that?"

They nodded enthusiastically as he turned his attention back to the officer. "Thank you for your cooperation."

She made a face as the gun remained aimed at her." You can put that away now."

The man looked at the gun and then at her. "Now why would I do that?"

Her eyes widened, knowing what would happen next. She glanced around, trying to find something to use as a weapon against him.

The man who had said nothing the whole time reached over the desk and hit her hard across the face, knocking her to the floor.

As she struggled to get up, she was hit again. She looked up to catch the first man smiling down at her, the gun just inches away from her face.

"Perhaps in your next life, you'll remember to keep any incriminating information you possess in your head to yourself when threatened with your life. Because the man with the gun will always shoot." His smile widened as he pulled the trigger.

* * *

Theo let out a sigh as he walked through the snow towards his apartment. It had been another eventless night at the factory where he worked. On top of that, the heaters still hadn't been fixed, so he had to work in the cold again.

He kicked an empty can away from him as he walked on, thinking about many things as he always did on his lonely walks home.

It'd been a while, since he last saw Elysia. His job as security for the factory always kept him busy and his days off were few. He would much rather quit, but being that he needed the money to pay his rent and stay in the Sank Kingdom, he didn't have much of a choice. It didn't help that the used car he bought was draining him of every last cent he had, being that it was constantly breaking down and in need of repairs.

There were nights where he'd wonder if maybe he should've just stayed with the circus and left with them at the beginning of the year, where it was off to the next new location. But then he'd remember how willing he was to stay with Elysia and get to know her more as well as keep watch over her. Each time he saw her, his heart would beat a little faster and her smile would make him smile in turn and he would always get lost in her deep blue eyes...

_ If only there was a better way..._

He pulled his jacket tighter around him, trying to figure out the next best time to see her. She hadn't been feeling too well either, and he didn't feel right not being there for her. Maybe he should go over on a night when Heero was out of the house and make her some soup or something. That way he'd be with her and she'd still have someone to watch over her.

He looked up as he heard a car coming from behind him. He frowned a little as it slowed to a stop in front of him, the window to the driver's side rolling down.

An older man in a black suit peered out at Theo and asked in a low voice, "You work at the factory down the road?"

Theo stared blankly at the man and raised an eyebrow. "What would it matter if I did?"

The man glared at Theo. "I advise you to cooperate now, as defiance will result in the loss of your job."

Theo narrowed his eyes at the man, angered that he had the nerve to threaten him when he didn't even know who he was. "You can't prove that I work there, nor do you have the power to fire me, just because I won't give you, a _stranger_, irrelevant information."

The driver continued to glare at Theo, then turned back to face the front of the car, muttering as the window slid back up," Even if I don't have the power now, the man I'm driving does. You'll be sorry, Barton."

Theo glared at the car as it sped off towards the factory. "Ass," he said out loud. He shook his head and turned back to go on his way home. This was the last thing he needed tonight. Now, he'd have to think of another way to avoid getting fired this time. Though, the fact that he was the only security guard who actually _worked_ usually saved his ass each time. He was grateful his father had trained him so much as a child. He wouldn't be able to hold this job if Trowa hadn't.

Theo continued walking, then stopped when he realized something. Something he should've caught right away. Something that was bad.

The man not only seem to know that he worked at the factory, but seemed to know him as well. Well enough for the man to have said his last name.

Theo was definitely going to have a long night now.

* * *

"Caterina Iria Winner... Winner! ... Yes, as in _Quatre_ Winner." Caterina let out a sigh of frustration as she turned in her chair to find a pen and piece of paper on her desk, brushing a strand of her blonde hair away from her face. "I don't understand how you people didn't put my reservation for this hotel! I've spoken with you dozens of times before! ... Yes, I _would_ like to speak with the owner!" 

For the eighth time that week, Caterina was getting into another fight with some person or another over the plans for her wedding to Jacob Peacecraft. First, she'd gotten mad at the florist for somehow confusing blue tulips with white roses. Then, the church she had originally picked burned down due to rioters in the Sank Kingdom. On top of that, the bakery that was making her cake, among many other desserts and pastries, decided that the quote they'd given her was too small, as the guest list continued to rise, which affected the amount of food.

Now, the hotel she had intended to have the reception at was telling her she not only didn't make a deposit, but she hadn't even made a reservation. She was starting to wonder if she should just take advantage of her father and Jacob's family's connections and just have them plan the wedding instead.

As she listened to the hotel owner drone on about the supposedly lost money and the fees she'd have to pay to re-reserve the hotel and the people who'd be forced out that weekend, she slumped down onto her desk and sighed again.

She knew she had insisted on planning this wedding all on her own. She wanted to prove that she can actually _do_ something; that she wasn't an incompetent who relied on her parents as the common belief was. Oh, no, those tabloids weren't going to say _she's_ not capable of doing things on her own. Not anymore.

But she hadn't realized just how hard this was. There were still many things to get done, like dealing with the caterers, speaking with the minister who was to perform the ceremony... She still hadn't even gone dress shopping. Her wedding was scheduled for February 9 and she still didn't even know what she was wearing.

She hung up the phone, not caring anymore about the hotel rental, and closed her eyes as she rested her head on the table. This wedding planning wasn't going as well as she'd hoped. How was she going to keep doing this on her own?

She banged her forehead a couple times on the desk, trying to knock some sense of hope into her. _Come on, Caterina. You can do this. You're a Winner. It's in your blood to succeed._

She looked up to the massive piles of paper in front of her, receipts, schedules, ideas, and sketches somewhere in there. _It's just a bit more work than you're used to. It won't kill you to give just a bit more effort, right?_

She glanced over to the phone as it rang, not sure if she wanted to answer it. She stared at it blankly, then sighed, picking it up. "You've reached the office of Caterina Winner. What do you want?"

"Cat, my dear, this is Pierre from the tuxedo shop. How are you?"

Caterina sat still and stared blankly at the pile in front of her. "Enough with the pleasantries, Mr. French. Why are you calling? I thought our business part was done. Did I miss something? Please tell me I didn't."

She groaned when Pierre hesitated then replied back," Well, we've got a little problem, Caterina."

"What is it?" Caterina rested her head back on the desk defeatedly.

"We've somehow lost the measurements you gave us."

Caterina closed her eyes, not liking where this was going. "_Whose_ measurements?"

There was a pause, then Pierre said," _All_ of them."

Caterina let out a breath of irritation. "All right... Fine... No problem... I'll just go get Jacob and see when his next day off is... And I'll somehow get in contact with the others and... ask them if they remembered their measurements... Even though they're men and they most likely won't... " She made a face as some of the papers fell off the desk. "Pierre, I'm going to have to call you back once I have this figured out. Au revoir."

"Au revoir, my dear!" Pierre said back almost too cheerfully.

Caterina dropped the phone back on the hook and just laid there on her desk. She whimpered when the phone rang again.

She watched it as it kept ringing and then the answering machine picked up.

"Ms. Winner, this is the florist. We can't seem to get the arrangements to work with the flower choices you picked. They're falling apart. Please call us back and help us out with some new choices. "

The machine clicked off, before the phone began to ring again. This time it was caterer.

"Caterina, it appears you missed your appointment with us again. This is the fifth time now. If you really want us to work for you, you have to at least send someone in your place or call to let us know what's going on. If this continues, we may just have to charge you more or just refer you to somebody else. Call us when you're ready to make a deal."

Caterina began to rub her forehead as the machine clicked again. Two seconds passed before the phone began to ring for the fourth time. She stared at it blankly as the machine turned on.

"Cat, it's Jacob-"

She jumped up and grabbed the phone off the hook. "Hi, honey. I was just going to call you."

She sniffled a little and tried to sound happy. "What did you need?"

"Hi, sweetie. I was just calling to let you know I was going to be held up at work again. You know how my dad like to give me the tough jobs."

Caterina frowned a little and held back some tears that had rushed to her eyes, fighting the feeling of disappointment that rushed up. "But, Jacob, we were supposed to have dinner tonight and discuss some of the wedding plans. There are a whole lot of new things that came up that I need your help with."

"I know, sweetie, but I can't leave. I tried, believe me. But my dad isn't giving any of us a break. We've got a huge lead on the riots and he doesn't want any of us to stop until it's all cleared. Thompson couldn't even go see his kid being born. Everybody's on a tight leash here. You know I want to be there with you, but I can't... Cat? ... Are you crying?"

Caterina sniffled some more and held the phone away from her to prevent Jacob from hearing her. "No, I'm just... Can't your dad give you a break? Just one? I was really looking forward to this."

"Then he'd be playing favorites, my love. I can't fix it... Look, I have to get going. We're heading out in a few minutes. How about I take you out tomorrow night instead? We can even go dress shopping."

Caterina smiled slightly, knowing how much he was sorry, being that he absolutely hated going shopping. Especially with her. "That'll be fine."

"Great. I'll see you later tonight, Cat, okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"I love you."

"I love you, too... Don't get killed, Jacob."

"I won't. I never do... Bye."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone and stared at the desk in front of her. She had so much to do, but it was already pretty late and she was fairly tired. She looked to her phone, back at the desk, and then collapsed on her desk, letting sleep set in.

She'd worry about it all later.

* * *

"So, Elysia, what do you have in mind on what to wear for the party?"

Elysia made a face at Jennifer's question and stared at the phone quietly for a second, before answering. "It's just a stupid New Year's party thrown by the Preventers' and their close family and friends. Which is another thing I've been trying to figure out. Why was an invitation extended to my father?"

Jennifer sighed on the other end, making Elysia hold back a laugh. Why her friend enjoyed the parties where she herself had said were "nightmarish" and "pointless" and "just something for rich people to mingle mindlessly in the pretense that they were having a good time" was beyond her. "Jennifer, you were bred for the high life. I'm not used to this sort of thing."

Jennifer snorted. "Yeah, right. My first seven years of life were spent in a circus, while the next two were spent in an orphanage. Yeah, my life screams 'Caterina Winner'."

Elysia laughed and shook her head. "At any rate, I really don't have anything special and I don't care."

"Elysia, you need to allow yourself to have some fun. Sure, it's a silly party, but everybody you know will be there. Especially a certain tall, handsome, green-eyed hottie."

Elysia frowned a bit at the phone. "Did you just call Theo a 'hottie'?"

"Eh, whatever it takes to get you to go. He's not really my cup of tea. That and I grew up with him, so I know how he is and... Well, let's just say taking baths with him weren't too pleasant."

Elysia held back some more laughter. "You took baths with Theo! I'm going to ask him about this the next time I see him!"

Jennifer let out a slight shriek. "Elysia Angelina Yuy, if you _dare_ to remind him about that, I'll make the rest of your life-"

"Oh, c'mon, Jennifer, you know I'd never do that. As tempting as it is to embarrass Theo..." Elysia trailed off and frowned when she heard a noise outside the front door of the apartment.

Jennifer didn't seem to notice her friend's silence. "Yeah, I know. But just so we're clear, I said nothing of the matter. Anyways, I was wondering... You know how we don't get much vacation time?"

"Uh, huh," Elysia answered absentmindedly as she walked quietly towards the front door.

"Well, you want to go hang out in the Sank Kingdom Plaza? I need to get out the orphanage for just one day. You know, actually _spend_ the money I earn."

"When?" Elysia frowned some more as the noise got louder. She edged against the wall, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

"I was thinking the day after tomorrow. That way, you can tell me how much fun you didn't have at the party. Maybe even pick up some guys if I dress right."

As Jennifer went on about how she needed a boyfriend, Elysia leaned against the door and looked through the peephole to find the source of the noise. She frowned when she saw a man outside her door, seeming to study the area around it. She looked away, unsure of what to do.

Jennifer was still talking, unaware of Elysia's silence.

Elysia glanced back through the peephole to see what the man was doing now and frowned when she saw he was gone. She looked back into the apartment, then went to open the door.

"Elysia?" Jennifer had now caught on that Elysia was quiet. " You there?"

Elysia glanced down the hallway, completely desolate. She made a face, not understanding what just happened. Had she just imagined him?

"Uh... yeah. I'm here..." Elysia answered as she slowly went back inside." Just zoned out a bit." She took one last look out into the hallway as she shut the door. "Now, what's this about picking up guys?"

* * *

A/N: Well, there you go. The first chapter. I've just realized that Caterina is in there more than the main character. Sorry about that. ; Don't worry. That'll be fixed. The story gets better. I promise. So, as any fanfic author would say, please R&R and I'll see you next chapter. Bye for now. 


	2. New Year's

_A Daughter's Will_

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and it's characters... No, really. I don't.

**  
A/N: **Here is chapter 2. Sorry if the first one was hard to read. It was for me. I have to figure out how fanfiction and my Word documents can cooperate and show up the way I want them to. Anyways, quit reading this and go on to the next chapter.

* * *

Jacob looked over at his little sister, still lying motionless in the hospital bed that she'd been in for over a year. It felt much longer than that, though. And with all the recent uprisings in the Sank Kingdom, he _felt_ much older. Whenever he visited her, he would wonder if she was better off in the coma, completely safe and oblivious to world outside her that was turning back to the days during the wars. 

He sighed and looked at his watch, wondering what Caterina was doing at this particular moment. She had left the house with a smile on her face, but he knew she wasn't being sincere. It was her "brave" face she had put on. That was one of the things he admired about her. She dealt with whatever life threw her way with a smile on her face and the tough Winner demeanor she was born with.

But he still felt horrible for causing her to leave on her own this night when he'd promise he'd take her out on a night on the town. He'd ended up getting home early that morning, the raid the agents took on an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the Sank Kingdom carrying out later than expected. While it was a small victory against the riots, it still wasn't enough to find out who the person was behind the uprisings.

On top of that, he was set to have another mission the following morning. His father was bent on getting the people behind the church burning. Jacob had a sneaking suspicion that it was in part to the fact that he and Caterina had planned to marry in that church, but he wasn't going to question his father's motives.

Unfortunately, it meant that he would have to call in an early night and not spend New Year's with his fiancé at what was supposed to be the party where all the important people would be. He felt horrible for leaving her alone there, as he knew her parents would be too busy talking with associates and the likes and not her.

He hated breaking promises. But he supposed it was all right in the sense that at least Lisette wouldn't be alone this night. He had decided to go and visit her, since his parents were out having their own special dinner and nobody would be at the hospital with her.

He reached out his hand and took hers in his, suddenly having the brotherly urge to protect her. He missed having her around. Contrary to what everybody thought, they did love each other. The frequent fights were all just for fun. It was something they had done since they were kids. It was practice for winning arguments against their parents. They never actually meant the things they said to each other.

Though he now regretted saying some of the harsh things he'd said to her in the past. He would do anything to take back those words and have her back.

He wished she could wake up and everything could go back to normal. He missed having a sister. And with the wedding coming up, he wanted her to be there. It just wouldn't be the same without her. And ... it felt wrong. To celebrate something with her trapped in the state she was in.

He had desperately waited the last few months for her to make a miraculous recovery. Or give just a small sign that she was still in there, not just... there...

He kissed her hand and watched her silently, realizing at that moment that he would be getting home later than he had planned. He just couldn't leave her lying there, helpless.

He closed his eyes in a feeble attempt to hold back a tear he felt coming, unsure why it was even coming out. Was it because he had been holding back so much this past year? Was all the stress coming out in the last few hours of the hard year?

He bowed his head down in his lap, gripping Lisette's hand tighter as he decided that he might as well let it all out now. Nobody was around and could see him and then feel bad themselves in turn. He had to be strong in front of everybody to keep everything together. But right now, he began to weep with the comfort that no one was going to hear him. Except for the one person who'd seen him cry as a child when his favorite aunt had died. Maybe if she heard him, she would realize how much everybody, especially him, missed her. And she would wake up.

Maybe.

* * *

Elysia gave a sigh as she tried to find somewhere to sit. She still wasn't feeling well and was starting to wonder if coming here was even a good idea. 

As always, the social gathering was rather boring for her. She wasn't one to mingle or drink or enjoy such ludicrous things. She still didn't know what exactly this party was for.

She watched as her father wandered around talking with the former pilots, all of whom decided to come under the guise that they were protecting the party. Their children knew better.

Her gaze landed on Theo, who was currently dancing with Caterina. She smiled at how handsome he looked, wishing she could just be alone with him for a while. The few moments he was with her, he'd been taken away by his father to talk to someone or a random girl trying to dance with him.

She sighed again and looked to Caterina who was smiling, a rare sight these last few months. Despite her coming alone, as Jacob was being "held up at work", she seemed happier tonight.

"Would you like a drink, miss?" a voice asked from behind.

Elysia jumped a bit and turned around to find that she'd somehow wandered over to the bar.

She frowned a little, trying to decide what she wanted to drink, even though she wasn't all that thirsty. Or the legal age, for that matter.  
The bartender, a small, slightly bald man, smiled at her and gestured around at the various bottles around him. "Anything in particular you want?"

"Um...I... well..." She bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do.

The bartender smiled some more and nodded. "No problem, my dear. I have just the drink for you." He ducked down under the counter and started grabbing bottles.

She frowned, a bit weirded out by how he'd been smiling at her, and looked back to the dance floor. The song was just about over and Caterina was actually starting to laugh. Theo also had a bit of a smile on his face, not looking worried or stressed liked he'd been lately.

She bit back a feeling of sadness, wondering what it was that Caterina did to make him smile like that when she herself had been trying to do that for weeks.

"All done! Here you go, miss," the bartender announced, causing her to jump again.

She turned back to him and grabbed the wineglass from his outstretched hand, smiling politely. "Thank you." She looked to the purple, almost red liquid in the glass, trying to figure out what this particular drink was called.

The bartender smiled broadly, creeping her out even more, as he moved back a bit. "A special drink for a beautiful girl. Secret recipe. Don't tell anyone." He winked at her and gave a little laugh.

Elysia laughed back, trying to hide the feeling of anxiety she got. "Well, thanks again," she said, turning around and quickly walking away.

"No problem, my dear! Please, come again! But whatever you do, don't look behind the bar. Wouldn't want you stealing my secret recipes." He waved at her as she left." Enjoy your drink!"

Elysia frowned again and walked a bit faster, not daring to glance back. "What a strange man."

She raised the glass to her lips, taking a sip of the drink. She bit back a cry of disgust at the bitter taste that went through her mouth, then frowned in confusion as it suddenly began to taste really sweet, almost like caramel. She went to have another sip, when a blonde girl dancing nearby bumped into her.

Elysia jumped back as the glass fell out of her hands, trying not to spill on the dress her father had paid so much for.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" the girl said, pulling away from her partner to check on Elysia. "Are you okay?"

Elysia closed her eyes, trying to fight back her disappointment at not getting another gulp full of the drink and nodded. "Uh, yeah. Just... nearly missed spilling all over the place." She looked down at the puddle on the floor, wondering if she should say anything.

The girl, who looked unusually young to be at the party, looked Elysia in the eyes, showing Elysia familiar bright green eyes, and said," Just making sure. Wouldn't want anything to happen to you." She smiled slightly and Elysia thought she saw the girl wink.

Elysia frowned, not understanding the comment, but before she could say anything else to the girl, her dance partner twirled her around in his arms and pulled her away, getting lost in the many couples on the dance floor.

Elysia stood quietly, not knowing what to make of the encounter.

"Ah, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!" a voice announced loudly.

Elysia smiled as two muscular arms reached out from behind her and turned her around.

Theo smiled back at her as he kissed her lips and pulled her closer to him. "Where were you?"

Elysia looked up at him and casually maneuvered him away from the spilt drink and broken glass. "Oh, I was just... "She glanced to the bar and frowned when she noticed the bartender was gone. "Looking around," she finished confusedly.

He smiled even more at her and kissed her again. "Well, I've been waiting all night to dance with a particular gorgeous girl and I'm just wondering if she'd do me the honor now." He pulled back and bowed, holding his hand out to her.

Elysia smiled a bit and took his hand, but shook her head a little. "Theo, you know I don't know how to dance."

Theo shrugged and pulled her deep into the middle of all the dancing couples. "That's okay. Just follow my lead."

He pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her tightly as he began to sway to the slow music playing.

Elysia smiled some more, glad to be in his arms, even though she had no clue what to do.

She held back a frown as she began to feel a bit weird, her body starting to feel all tingly. She gripped Theo's shoulders tighter as she began to feel herself lose her balance.

The music began to fade from her hearing and the room was starting to darken. She closed her eyes, trying to process what was happening.

A loud noise came from her right and what sounded like cries for help, but she couldn't quite understand what was going on. She started to feel light, as if she were floating. She pulled back to look at Theo, wondering if he even noticed as another loud bang was heard, this time from behind her.

"Theo?" she managed to choke out, her body completely numb.

She looked up to his eyes, seeing him first confused, then concerned. "Elysia? Are you okay?"'

Her vision blurred for a second, then everything just got darker. She felt herself slip down under his arms as everything went black, still hearing Theo saying her name.

_What's going on? Why am I feeling like this?_

She tried hard to stay awake, but the darkness was overcoming her. She couldn't hear or see anything, her senses seeming to disappear from her. She tried to speak, but nothing was coming out. She then completely blacked out.

* * *

It had been another long day at the orphanage. Jennifer usually had her problems with the children, but today was exceptionally hard. The teenagers didn't help the situation much, either. Normally, when she'd have a problem with any of the orphans, she would send them to the orphanage's counselor, i.e. Elysia. Since Elysia knew most of the kids there and, obviously, had been in their shoes, she was the best person to handle them when they felt the need to act up. 

But since Duo sent Elysia home early because she was looking rather pale and didn't seem all that well enough to work, Jennifer was stuck alone to watch them. And the kids took advantage of that. She was finally freed from the place an hour later than she was supposed to, but she wasn't complaining. She was glad to be out for that night. She'd let the nuns deal with the orphans all night for New Year's. She just wanted to go home and relax, hoping to bring in the New Year peacefully.

And that's where she was at now, the television on low, displaying the many different parties that were going on that evening, her wondering what was going on at the Preventers' party and how everybody else was holding up. She was curious, but didn't want to resort to calling them as that might make her look desperate and lonely. Which she wasn't. She was just the only one who wasn't invited and she hated not being in on everything.

She looked up from the couch she was laying on as the phone began to ring. She sighed, wondering who'd be calling her so late and why they'd want to interrupt her lazy hour. Everybody was too busy at the party to be calling her. Who else could it be?

She got up resentfully and walked over to the coffee table to pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Jennifer, darling, is that you? You sound grumpy."

Jennifer closed her eyes in annoyance and flopped back down on the couch. "Mother?"

"Yes, it's your mother! Or did you forget that you had parents? Your father and I have been worried sick about you, wondering why on earth our little girl hasn't called us and fearing the worse has happened..."

Jennifer rolled her eyes, knowing her mother was trying to lay another guilt trip on her and tried to divert the rant. "How are you, mother?"

"Oh... Well, I'm doing what I can. I just have a broken heart about my little Jenny not being here, working by my side as she always did... You still sound grumpy. Is that orphanage treating you right? I knew you shouldn't have taken that job! They're wearing you out! You should've kept that job your father took so much trouble getting for you!"

Jennifer closed her eyes and tried to hold in her aggravation. "I like my job. I'm not being worn out. I'm just tired from staying up all day. I woke up early this morning and was at the orphanage 'til about an hour ago..." She sighed, not wanting to mention her rough day at the orphanage. "I'm just tired, mother."

"Tired or not, I just don't like you being there. I still can't believe you actually took a job in that hell hole. You were so glad when we adopted you and got you out of there and now, here you are, defending that place!"

Jennifer let out a groan as her mother went off into the same lecture she always did whenever she called. "Here we go..." she muttered.

"You know your father and I aren't fond of you being there in that wretched place. That city is in ruins and it's definitely not safe for a young girl like you to be, especially all by herself. I'd much rather you be here with us. But you seem so attached to that horrid orphanage. I don't understand why you even want to work there... I can't wait until they get a new leader to take over that area and bring it back to its former glory. Your father and I were thinking that perhaps we should just sell our summer home there and go to one of the colonies for our vacations instead."

Jennifer frowned and opened her eyes quickly. "What?"

"Well, it _is_ starting to fall apart, dear, and it just doesn't seem worth the effort to-"

"No, mother, the other part. What of the new leader? I haven't heard anything about this."

"Why, Jennifer, darling, it's been an issue for over the last fifteen years! Ever since that Peacecraft woman was killed, there have been legal battles and procedures and fights over who would take her place and the whole Sank Kingdom. This is why it's falling apart and becoming the trashy place that it is. People are caring too much over who's in control and not over _what's_ going to be controlled. A shame, I might add..." Her mother sighed to emphasis this point and then added quietly," A lot could've been done to save it."

Jennifer sat quietly as this went through her mind. People were feuding over a new leader? Why hadn't she heard about this before?

She made a face when her mother sighed again on the other end, as if Jennifer was the one who had called _her_ so late. "Well, darling, I must be going. Your father and I are scheduled to play a game of tennis with the Mitchells tomorrow morning. And you know how much your father loves to beat them. I just wanted to make sure you were still alive. Do try and keep in touch with us more often, dear. You'll kill us both if you don't. Bye, bye. I love you... Oh, and Happy New year."

"Same to you. I love you too. Bye, mother."

Jennifer gently hung the phone up as she replayed the conversation in her mind. Why hadn't anybody mentioned the feud to her? Didn't the former pilots know about this?

She sank back into the couch, trying to get comfortable as she tried to connect the dots.

Was Relena taken out, so that a new, perhaps even cruel, person could take over? But why would someone do that and why would they want the Sank Kingdom? There was really nothing that set it apart from the other countries, or colonies. Was there some sort of secret value to it that nobody knew about? Could Relena have known about it? Was this why she was murdered?

She sighed, and closed her eyes, not wanting to think about it anymore. Even if this new bit of information was useful, it still didn't explain what had happened to Elysia.

She groaned as her phone began to ring. Who else could be calling her? She let out a sigh and pushed away the new information to the back of her mind, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Uh, Jennifer? ... It's you, right?" a deep male voice asked on the other end.

Jennifer sat up straight in a mixture of shock and confusion. "Jacob? Why on earth and the colonies are you calling me?"

Jacob paused and then chuckled a little, obviously understanding Jennifer's surprise. He couldn't argue the facts that he never called her unless he was looking for Caterina. This wasn't a friendly call. Especially when it was so late at night. "Well, I'm not going to lie to you. I have an ulterior motive for calling you."

Jennifer let this go through her mind and frowned. "Okay," she said slowly.

Jacob gave a nervous laugh, causing Jennifer to be even more surprised, as he never laughed. At least, not in front of her. "I was unable to go with Caterina to that party tonight. I had to work late again. The problem is that I had also promised her I would take her out shopping for her wedding dress tonight."

Jennifer raised an eyebrow at the act of kindness Jacob had planned. "You actually volunteered to go shopping with Caterina?"

"Heh, yeah... But I screwed up again." He let out what sounded like a groan. "She's not going to be happy when she gets home."

"Because you didn't go with her? Caterina's pretty understanding about that sort of thing. I mean, her parents did it to her all her life. She's grown accustomed to that."

"That's why I'm mad at myself. I was kind of hoping I could try and give her just one decent night where she wouldn't have to stress or worry about the wedding plans or her work or _me_ doing my late missions... I wanted to give her a nice evening out on the town. And I ended up doing what's always happened to her... False hopes and broken promises."

Jennifer bit back the urge to say "aw" at Jacob's display of affection. It was so odd as he never showed any sort of emotion other than annoyance or anger.

Then reality set in. "So, why are you calling me? I really doubt you would use me as a gossip buddy. Don't get me wrong, it's nice chatting with you and all, but it's really weirding me out."

"I was wondering if you could help me out with a surprise for Caterina."

Jennifer blinked and repeated back," Surprise for Caterina?"

"Yeah... I want to make up for not being there for her these last few months and... really being MIA with wedding plans."

"And what are you proposing we do?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping _you_ could actually go and... Er, first off, take her out shopping. You know, the usual girly girl thing and somehow find out what particular dress she's looking for. Then, you go to me and relay the information and we can get her the dress as a surprise and-"

"Whoa, now, Peacecraft," Jennifer interrupted. "That's a nice idea and all, but you don't just go out and buy a woman her wedding dress without any sort of input from her and then expect her to like it, when she herself hasn't technically _seen_ it."

Jacob paused and then said somewhat quietly," So it's not a good idea?"

Jennifer hesitated, not wanting to crush his good intentions. She sighed, regretting what she was about to get herself into. "Well, it's not that it's a bad idea. It's just that... Caterina is pretty picky... She'll say she likes one thing, but then change her mind an hour later... You know this will be hard."

"Hence why I'm asking you. If anybody knows her more than I do, it's going to be you. And I figured that you would be the one who could decipher her moods and lingo, so to speak, better than anybody."

Jennifer frowned, not sure if that was a good thing. "All right, so I'm just going to try to figure out what sort of dress she likes?"

"Yeah, and her dress size too, for obvious reasons. I don't want to ask her, as women are touchy about that sort of thing. And Caterina's pretty unpredictable."

Jennifer closed her eyes, wondering how she was going to manage that. "Okay. Dress size and the dress itself."

"For now," Jacob added.

Jennifer's eyes widened at the statement. "What? What do you mean 'for now'?"

"I may need you for future reference... Anyways, I better leave you now. Thanks, Jennifer. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Bye," Jennifer said absentmindedly as the phone clicked to signal Jacob hung up. She slowly lowered the phone back on the hook, wondering why she's agreed to do this. Now, she was going to have to figure out a way to keep this all a secret from everybody. Why did she answer the phone?

She sank into the couch, wanting to go to sleep and pretend she had had a good day.

* * *

A/N: Well, there you go. I hope this is turning out okay for all of ya'll. As usual, R&R and I'll see you next chapter. 


	3. Confusement & Shock

_**A Daughter's Will**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or it's characters... There, I said it.

**A/N: **Yes, I've finally updated. Yay! Anyways, I hope it was worth the wait. I'm planning on throwing out chapter four soon, as well, though, there's a lot of tweaking on that one, so we'll see. Keep an eye out for it. And, now, go on and read...

* * *

Elysia wasn't sure where she was exactly. She recalled being at a party of some sort and music playing. And eyes... Seeing Theo's deep, emerald green eyes... 

She moaned a little as her head started to hurt and opened her eyes, bringing a hand to her forehead.

She frowned as she noticed an IV attached to her arm and an incessant beeping to her right. She then realized she was lying in a hospital bed.

"Oh, good. You're awake now. We were starting to get worried about you."

Elysia waited a second for her head to clear, trying to figure out who had just spoken, and then looked to the front of her bed to see Jade Chang smiling warmly at her. Actually it was Jade _Maxwell_, but she still insisted on being called by her former last name for reasons nobody had yet to explain.

"Jade?" she asked, confused on what was going on.

Jade smiled some more and moved closer to Elysia. "It's Dr. Chang, right now, actually. You sure do know how to get yourself in trouble, Ms. Yuy."

She sat down gently on Elysia's bed and looked at her. "So, how're you feeling now?"

Elysia frowned some more and looked around the room. "Disoriented, sick, my head hurts..." She looked to Jade questioningly. "How did I get here?"

Jade looked down to the clipboard in her hand and pulled out a black pen, scribbling some things down. "Well, what's the last thing you remember?"

Elysia bit her lip and tried to think back. "Um... Well, I was with Theo... And ... I think we were dancing."

Jade laughed and shook her head. "According to him, you were standing awkwardly as he moved you around to make it _seem _like you were dancing."

Elysia made a face as Jade sat up a bit straighter.

"At any rate, what happened is you collapsed due to some sort of drug influence on your body. I trust _you_ didn't take anything, so it's come down to the conclusion that someone was trying to take out a few people at that there party. Makes me kind of disappointed I couldn't go." She glanced at her clipboard to read something.

Elysia looked at Jade, even more confused. "You mean to say I wasn't the only one?"

Jade made a face as she continued to read and nodded. "Unfortunately, there were four other people who suffered the same fate as you. Three weren't as lucky." She looked up to Elysia. "They're dead."

Elysia held in her surprise, not sure how to take this bit of news.

What had happened? Was this planned?

Jade studied Elysia's expression for a while and then stood up. "Don't worry. Our dear parents are already looking into this. We're going to have to let the head of security come in, though, as he has to question you and relay your night. See if there are any correlations with the other victims. I'm going to be honest right now and say someone rigged your food or something. There was a small amount of people hit, so it couldn't have just been something in the air or an illness. Why you particular five, I don't know, but hey, so goes the mystery of the world." She looked back at her chart and smiled again. "Now, then, there is one other thing I must speak with you about."

Elysia made a face at Jade's sudden change in moods, but attributed it to the fact that she was a doctor and dealt with things differently. She looked up at Jade, slightly fearful of what it was she was going to say next. "What is it?"

"These last few weeks you haven't been feeling too well, right?"

Elysia looked at her, a bit perplexed at where this was headed. "Um... yes."

Jade nodded exaggeratedly at Elysia's answer and scribbled some more at the clipboard. At least, Elysia was sure she did. "Are you aware that you've been imagining yourself with the flu?"

Elysia blinked and sat up some more in her bed. "I... uh... huh? How?"

Jade looked up for a second and nodded again. "Yep... It appears you didn't have the flu at all, you big fake."

Elysia grew a little mad at the comment. She knew what she had been feeling the last few weeks. She couldn't have imagined herself throwing up or coughing nonstop or feeling so tired all the time. "What are you getting at?" she asked, wondering if Jade was messing with her mind.

Jade smiled at her warmly and lowered her clipboard. "Congratulations, Ms. Yuy. You're pregnant."

* * *

Heero looked over the papers in his hand once more, then gave a sigh, handing them over to Trowa. He sank back into his chair and rested his hand on his forehead. "I give up. I don't understand why these people were targeted. There's no connection whatsoever. Maybe this _was_ just a random attack." 

Trowa glanced at the papers and shook his head. "I'd be much obliged to agree, Heero, but this doesn't quite seem to add up. It's too planned out to be something done just for kicks. These people had completely different businesses from each other for it to seem like they were targeted for _whom_ they are. But I believe they all had to have some sort of deal going on amongst them for them to be taken out this way. Which is another thing; why kill justthem, if this was random? And don't forget, the bartender was taken out too, along with three of our security personnel."

The two pilots were sitting in a small office in the Preventers' Hospital where the victims of the party were taken. As it was a Preventers party that was struck, they were the ones responsible for the medical care and the investigation.

Heero and Trowa were now reading over the reports and outlines of the party and the building where it was held, among many other things like the victims' backgrounds and careers. All that had been determined was that there had to have been some sort of food or drink ingested by the victims in order for them to all have passed out around the same times as one another.

Heero sighed again and nodded. "But I can't seem to figure out where Elysia fits into all of this."

Trowa gave a shrug and skimmed through the papers. "Neither can I. That part eludes me. Perhaps she was given someone else's drink by mistake?"

Heero closed his eyes and tried to ignore that last part. The thought of losing his daughter to something as stupid as mistaken identity didn't sit too well with him. "I'd rather not think of that."

Trowa nodded and set the papers down. "Neither would I." He sighed and stared blankly at the table in front of him, arms crossed. "Maybe the security tapes will be more of a help."

"Way ahead of you, Barton," Duo announced as he walked into the room, flinging some more papers on the little table in front of the other two pilots. "Sorry to say, there isn't anything to watch."

Trowa and Heero frowned and looked up to Duo in confusion.

"What do you mean," Trowa asked.

Duo flopped down on the couch next to Heero, much to Heero's irritation, and let out a sigh. "The entire system was shut off." He thought a second, and then gave a shrug. "Actually, it was _destroyed_."

Trowa and Heero sat up in their seats and stared at Duo in shock.

"How?" Trowa asked in disbelief. "That system was flawless."

Duo gave a little nod. "It _was,_ indeed. Whoever did this sure did know our system pretty well."

Heero and Trowa looked at each other stunned. How could something like this have happened?

Trowa looked to Duo questioningly. "How could they destroy it without getting caught by the..." He trailed off as his mind made the connection. "Oh, no." He looked down, bothered by the way this was going.

"These guys sure did know what they were doing," Duo said sullenly. He tapped the papers in front of him. "So, we definitely know this isn't random or unplanned. They were out for those particular five people for some reason. It's our job to find out why."

"But why Elysia?" Heero looked to Duo helplessly. "I don't understand why she was one of the victims. I mean, nobody really knows who she is or..." He stopped and frowned when he remembered something. He stood up quickly and walked over to the nearby computer.

"Heero?" Duo asked confusedly.

Trowa turned in his chair to face Heero better. "Is there something you know?"

Heero waved his left hand at them dismissively as he typed furiously at the keyboard. "Just a hunch, but if I'm not mistaken, a similar situation happened to one of our stations a few days ago. "

Duo crossed his arms and watched Heero. "What do you mean? How come I didn't hear about it?"

"Because that was the day of the riot at the Sank Kingdom courtyard and HQ didn't want us officers to look more incompetent and weak if it was mentioned the same day."

Duo thought this over and nodded. "Makes sense."

"Aha!" Heero shouted triumphantly, pulling back from the computer and pointing at the computer where a police file was shown.

Duo peered closer at the computer screen to get a better look. "Officer Sandra Burns," he read aloud," killed by gunshot wound to the head. Signs of a struggle and a beating." He looked at Heero confusedly. "How is this similar to what happened tonight?"

Heero sighed and pointed to another part of the summary. "Right there, Maxwell."

Duo leaned over some more. "No suspects, security system disabled, all officers in building... killed... " He frowned and looked to Heero slowly. "Think these are the same guys?"

Heero nodded enthusiastically. "It _has_ to be!"

Trowa reached over Heero and moved the mouse to click on a few things on the report. "This does seem similar. However, we can't be too sure. We need evidence of a connection between the two incidents to verify that it is indeed the same people. "

Heero and Duo nodded in agreement.

Duo pulled away and stood up, stretching. "Well, it sure does look like we've got the same people here, to me. If only we knew _who_ they were." He looked to the two pilots and slapped them on the backs in a friendly manner. "C'mon, guys. Let's go focus on something else for now. Take a break. Elysia might have woken up by now." He frowned when the two didn't move. "You've been at it for hours!" he added, hoping that that was enough to get them to go.

Trowa nodded and turned away from the computer. "Yeah... you're right... I better call Catherine and see how the kids are doing." He walked out briskly, not saying another word.

Heero hesitated, unsure if stopping was a wise idea. He was sure that if he kept searching, he might come across something useful.

Duo caught this and rested his hands on Heero's shoulders. "Don't stress yourself right now, Heero. You've done it too many times already. Go see your daughter and let _us_ worry about this later. She's more important right now."

Heero continued to sit still, staring at the screen reluctantly. Finally, he nodded and slowly got to his feet. "Yeah. You're right. I'll look later." He grabbed his jacket off the chair he was sitting on earlier and walked out quietly with Duo.

* * *

Caterina leaned against her father's shoulder, boredom setting in. They both had been waiting in one of the waiting rooms at the Preventer's hospital for word on what exactly had happened. She really didn't like that she was told to go home and wait for someone to call her. Not that she actually went there, but that was beside the point. 

She needed to know why those people had passed out and whether or not they were okay. Especially Elysia.

She looked up at her father and studied his expression. She couldn't tell if he was just as worried as she was or tired from the long night. She sighed and looked to her watch, wondering what Jacob was doing at this hour. It was well past midnight and she wasn't sure where he was at right now.

"So, I take it Jacob had another mission tonight," Quatre said, breaking the silence, while also seeming to read her mind at the same time.

Caterina looked up to her father's bright blue eyes and gave a slight shrug. "That's what he told me."

Quatre looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "So, you don't believe that's where he's at right now?"

Caterina thought a second and then gave another shrug. "He says a lot of things," she said sullenly, thinking of his broken promise.

Quatre smiled slightly at her and faced the wall across from them. "Well, my dear, sweet daughter, in relationships, this would be called _trust_. You have to learn to believe that when he says he's going to be somewhere, he most likely will be at that place. "

Caterina made a face and looked to Quatre, a bit annoyed. "It's not that I don't trust him, daddy. It's just that... I hardly see him. Here I am, working nonstop on the wedding plans and in the back of my mind I'm wondering if he's even going to show up at the wedding. He's always so busy and... he's either going to end up working that day or be... killed. " She looked down at that last part, not glad that she said her worst fear out loud.

Quatre smiled sympathetically and wrapped his right arm protectively around his daughter. "I don't think he'd do anything to jeopardize your relationship." He kissed her on the forehead and pulled her closer to him. "He loves, you, Ameerah," he said, using his special nickname for her. "That's all that should matter."

Caterina smiled a little and looked up at her father hopefully. "You think so, daddy?"

Quatre smiled back warmly and squeezed her shoulder. "I know so."

They glanced back at the wall, their smiles fading, as theywaited for whatever might come next, but, at least, enjoying the moment together.

* * *

Elysia stared at Jade in shock. "I... uh... what?" she stuttered. 

Jade nodded and smiled some more. "Yep. You're almost two months pregnant. Coincidentally timed with a vacation you took with a certain someone back in November." She looked to her clipboard and wrote something down. "And, judging by your reaction, I was right in not saying anything to your father or Theo. Otherwise, they would've known before you and that would've sucked."

Elysia closed her eyes, trying to grasp this. "I... two months?" She opened her eyes and looked up to Jade. "Wait, why _didn't _you say anything to them?"

Jade gave a small shrug. "The fact that Theo asked how you were and not you _and_ the baby was proof enough for me that he didn't know. Same thing with your dad. And if they didn't know, that meant you hadn't told them or didn't know yourself. I wasn't about to be the one to kill the surprise. Either way, it's now in your hands."

Elysia continued to sit still, silent from the shock from this bit of news.

_Pregnant? How? ... I mean, obviously I know_ how _but... What am I going to do? I can't leave my job at the orphanage... And father and I finally got that new apartment... And Theo and I hardly see each other as it is... _

She froze when she thought of Theo. "Oh, no," she said out loud.

Jade frowned at Elysia's expression and sat back down on the bed. "What? Why do you look like that?"

Elysia looked to Jade fearfully. "What am I going to tell Theo?"

Jade stared at her in confusion and gave another small shrug. "That he's going to be a father." She studied Elysia's face for a minute, and then added, "That's going to be a problem isn't it?"

Elysia nodded weakly. "I ... He's not going to be happy when he hears this. He's told me before how he wants kids, but _way_ later... Not now... He _hates_ children."

Jade looked at Elysia wryly. "Well, he should've thought of that, before he-"

"Jade!" Elysia interrupted in distress. "Don't say that!" She covered her face with her hands and looked down. "What am I going to do?" she groaned.

Jade smiled sympathetically and put a hand on Elysia's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. It'll be okay... If you want, I can help you out with telling him the news."

"Telling who the news?" Theo asked, as he strolled into the room, walking over to where Elysia laid, giving her a big hug. "Hello, gorgeous."

Elysia smiled and hugged back as well as she could and gave a sigh as she breathed in his heavenly scent. "Hey... "

Jade smiled and pulled away, sensing that the two wanted to be alone. "We were just talking about how I'm going to break the news to Shane that I managed to get Grandma Hilde and Grandma Sally to arrange the new room for Brandon."

Theo frowned at Jade's statement. "I thought he already had his own room... Isn't he three months old now? Why does he need a new room?"

Jade shook her head as she edged toward the door. "Brandon lives in three different houses and henceforth needs three different rooms of his own... When you're a father, you'll understand." She turned to walk out the door and cringed as she realized the gravity to her comment. She quickly made her exit, hoping he didn't catch her expression.

Theo merely shrugged this off and looked back to Elysia, misinterpreting the look on her face for feelings of pain. "You all right?"

Elysia just stared at him quietly, unsure of what to say. There was so much on her mind.

First off, from how and what Jade told her, it seemed as though she could have very well died that night. She was slipped something in her food at the party as somebody must have wanted her dead. Which was confusing in itself, since she had no clue who would want her taken out. It may have been mistaken identity, but how would she be able to know?

And then she wakes up to the news that she _hadn't_ been sick the last few weeks like she had thought and was, in fact, carrying the child of her boyfriend of one year inside her.

She sighed as her mind raced, still processing what Jade told her and what she was going to have to eventually tell Theo, her father, Trowa, and most likely Theo's brother and sister and the rest of the pilots and their families. How was she going to break the news to him? It was still a huge shock for her and something she didn't think she could grasp anytime soon.

Theo watched her expectantly, wondering why she hadn't really talked yet to him.

_She must still be waking up and trying to understand what happened to her. Poor thing. I wish I could fix all this and do something for her to make her feel better. _

He sighed as well and wrapped an arm around her protectively. "Well, I'm glad you're all right, Elysia. I'm not sure what I would've done if you had... " He stopped before finishing his sentence, not liking the thought too much. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, as he restarted. "If you were... gone..." He paused then shook his head. "I take that back. I actually would've gone after the guys who did this to you and killed them one by one, slowly and painfully. And _then_, I would've been stuck on what to do next." He smiled slightly at her, hoping she would do the same.

To his relief, she did. She looked up at him, her lips forming a small smile as she asked," You mean, you would have only gone after these people if I had died?"

Theo gave a laugh and shook his head, wondering how she was always able to find a loophole in everything he said. "No, sweetie," he replied, gently kissing her on the forehead. "I'll still do it, if you want me too. But, I'm afraid it's not going to be as brutal. And I know how much you _love_ gore and pain."

Elysia allowed herself to laugh at that as she knew he was right. She enjoyed watching all the crime shows and horror movies she could get her hands on, and each time she would complain how the censors wouldn't let her see the full brunt of all the homicides and deaths she wanted. It just didn't have the same impact, in her opinion.

But right now, she suddenly realized just how tired she was. It _had_ been a long night for her, after all. And now that everybody was sure she was okay, it wouldn't hurt to have a nice rest.

She looked to Theo and hugged him. "Hey, mind if I knock out? I'm feeling really tired."

He raised an eyebrow at her, not sure if this was a good idea. "Are you sure? You're not just feeling more affects of-"

"No, I'm fine," Elysia said firmly. "Jade even said so. It's just been a long night. You know that. I'm just... really tired right now."

Theo made a face, still unsure if he should let her close her eyes and "rest". "Are you sure?" he asked.

Elysia nodded, and pulled the bed's small blanket tighter around her. "Tell everybody I said hi and I'm fine. I'll see them in the morning. It's just been too much excitement tonight."

Theo nodded and stood up slowly. "All right." He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. "Oh, and happy New Year." He pulled away and smiled sympathetically once more at her, before walking out and closing the door quietly behind him.

Elysia smiled back slightly and laid down, trying to find a comfortable spot on the small bed. She closed her eyes, sleep hitting her immediately, as she wondered what it would be like to be a mother.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, there's number three. Hoped you liked it and, as usual R&R. I'm praying this fic gets more attention, though, as it seems to be dying out here. If you're reading this, PLEASE review, so I know I'm not doing this for nothing. Anyways, until next, bye for now. 

Oh, and by the way, Ameerah is Arabic for Princess. :)


	4. New Assignments

_A Daughter's Will_

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters.

**A/N**: I know, I FINALLY updated! Sorry, for taking so long. I know it's been almost a year since I first started this fic. On the bright side, the computer is uncrashed. I was smart enough to save all my documents on a disc this time, before it crashed. And I definitely know where I'm going with this fic (no writer's block here :D ).So, expect more updates sooner.

On another note, I'm going back and revising "An Orphan's Life". There were a couple mistakes ( as well as story errors) that are KILLING me, so I'm going back to fix those. So, go reread that soon, if you want. Now, then, go on and R&R, and I'll see you next chap!

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Jacob was dreaming, he was sure. But what of wasn't quite so clear. It may have been about Caterina. Or maybe Lisette. Or it could've just been everybody.

All he knew, though, was that there was the light melodious jingling of music of some sort, coming somewhere nearby.

It was then that he woke up and realized that the ringing was coming from his front pocket, his cell phone's ring tone not quite promising it would stop anytime soon.

He sighed and took it out of his pocket, wondering what time it was.

Sunlight was starting to stream into Lisette's hospital room, casting a golden surreal glow around them. It had to be at least six or seven.

"Yes?" he asked quietly, answering his phone with what Caterina lovingly called his "morning voice".

"Jacob, are you aware of what time it is," his father's deep, rough voice asked.

Jacob frowned, wondering what on earth and the colonies Zechs was talking about, and then groaned when it hit him that he had missed getting up in time for the mission.

The _very_ important mission he was supposed to lead.

"Dad, I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I fell asleep here and-"

"Well, it's a little late for apologies... We really needed you."

Jacob sat silently, knowing there was nothing he could say to make the situation better. There was really no excuse for him to miss something that was so important to the base.

He started at the phone, wondering what he should say to Zechs.

His father seemed to understand. His tone grew soft as he said, "Don't worry. We still got it done. Mitchell took over. Did a damn good job, but nothing compared to what you could've done."

Jacob made a face, wanting to know what had happened, but knowing at the same time that discussing those things were highly off limits and top secret. "I don't know what to say, Dad."

"Well, that's something I would expect. Granted, I should've known you were going to slip up at some point. I _have_ been working you too much and too hard these last couple of months. It was only a matter of time before sleep would finally beat you. You really do need a vacation."

Jacob frowned when his father paused, seeming to hold back on saying something. "Dad?" he asked, wondering what it was. He stood up and walked over to the windows nearby, glancing out at the awakening city below him.

Zechs sighed on the other end and took a while before answering. "I take it you were with your sister all night."

Jacob frowned some more, not understanding what that had to do with anything, nor how his father knew. "Yeah... I thought she might have needed some company."

Zechs took another long pause before going on. "So, you most likely haven't spoken to anyone, right?"

"Yeah," Jacob replied slowly, looking away from the window for a second.

"Well, it appears that I'm assigning you a new mission. Fairly easy stuff compared to what you've been doing lately."

Jacob made a face, not understanding why his father kept changing subjects. "Dad, what are you talking about?"

"There was an attack last night at the Preventer's party. Three people died, one is in a coma and ... Elysia is all right. But it seems to be that-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, dad, wait a second. What do you mean Elysia is all right? She was hurt?" Jacob stared at his phone in disbelief.

"Well, yes and no. There's still a lot going on, investigation wise. But, so far, she seems to be the only one who got out of it alive and well... Your uncle, though, was pretty upset." He paused to let it all sink in.

Jacob closed his eyes, trying to get over this new information. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"Well, my son, as I said, you have a new mission."

Jacob nodded slowly and waited. "Okay. And it is...?"

"You are to protect your cousin at all costs. You are to watch her day night, wherever she goes, and whoever she's with. I'll give you the full and complete mission files later, but right now, you need to kiss your sister goodbye, and get your ass down here at the hospital. You have some hovering to do while she gets interviewed by the investigators."

Jacob looked over to Lisette, whose stillness unnerved him, and nodded some more. "Yeah, dad, okay. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Good... Be careful, Jacob."

"I will. Bye, dad."

"Bye."

Jacob hung up his phone and looked back out the window. The city seemed so peaceful in the early morning hours. It was hard to believe that in just a few hours there would be more riots and fires breaking out. The place was really falling apart.

He sighed and looked back to his sister, walking over to her regretfully. He took her hand in his and whispered," Bye, Lis. I'll see you tomorrow. Happy New Year." He leaned down and kissed her gently on the cheek, and slowly walked away, letting go of her hand.

While he walked down the hospital's hallway, buttoning his jacket up, he couldn't help but wonder if she was ever going to wake up.

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* * *

Jennifer stood outside one of the many boutiques that were on the outer streets of the Sank Kingdom Plaza, hugging herself in an attempt to keep warm. She had been waiting for Elysia for nearly an hour and a half. She had called Elysia at her apartment three times and there was no answer. Similar attempts at Theo and Caterina's house phones and cells proved useless when they, too, didn't answer. She was starting to get angry, pretty sure that they had all stayed out late having a good time while she was left alone in her small house with nothing to do.

She looked at her watch one last time, then decided to just shop around by herself. If Elysia was going to show up, she would've done it by now. Now, Jennifer would have to spend the day by herself. _So much for hanging out and picking up guys._

She turned around and walked into the plaza, heading for the main shops. Maybe some nice new clothes would cheer her up. Or a book of some sort. She wandered around, glancing here or there, trying to decide just what it was she wanted and where she should even go. She had so much money, but she really didn't _need_ anything in particular.

She was just turning a corner when something bright and shiny in a store's display window to her left caught her eye. She paused to see just what it was, as more shiny objects came into her view. She smiled as she realized that the objects were pieces of a miniature circus. She stared at the display window's contents for some time, studying all the little parts of the tiny version of what looked like her childhood home.

There were the brightly colored, sometimes striped, big top tents, as well as the animals' cages. Here or there within the little circus a shiny and colorful clown would stand out, holding balloons, a little horn, or just be smiling. She held back a laugh at the thought of Theo wearing the bright greens and blues the clowns had on and smiling dorkishly at the people passing by.

As much as she hated to go inside the store and behave like a seven-year-old again, she couldn't resist the little circus. She turned around quickly towards the store's entrance, excited and curious to see what was in it. She let out a small cry of embarrassment as she wound up walking straight into the male customer who was just heading out of the store.

"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed as the man fell back a bit, nearly dropping his shopping bag.

He surprised Jennifer instead, as, instead of looking at her angrily, he smiled warmly at her, regaining his composure easily and shrugging it off. "It's okay. I'd rather get bumped into by a beautiful girl such as you, then a cranky, ugly looking guy." He brushed his coat off with his left hand and then looked back to her with shining, bright, blue-green eyes. "Which _has_ happened before and more than once." He held his hand out to her, grabbing hers in his as he brought it to his lips in an elegant manner, kissing it lightly, while never taking his eyes off of her. "I don't normally talk to strangers, especially those strong enough to knock me over, but I'm quite taken by you."

Jennifer gave a nervous laugh, as she wasn't quite sure what to do. Sure, she wanted to meet guys, but never in her wildest dreams did she expect _this_ to happen. "I... uh..."

He gave a laugh and let go of her hand, taking a step back and giving a bit of a bow. "I apologize. I can understand you're position right now, as it must be rather awkward. My name is Jonathan Bradford. I tend to speak my mind, much to my friends' annoyance. But I'm sure they'll fill you in on all that later."

Jennifer smiled back, liking that he was at least honest, and then crossed her arms, realizing something. She tilted an eyebrow at him and asked," Are you already implying that I'm going to be sticking around you for some time?"

He laughed at her statement and gave a shrug. "I suppose so. You caught me." He raised his hands up as if surrendering and stared into her eyes, mesmerizing her with just how beautiful his eyes were. "Am I wrong, though?"

She smirked at him, not wanting to say yes or no. He was quite handsome and, as far as she can tell, friendly in a non-psychotic way. Would it hurt to say yes?

She glanced to his right hand, where he held his shopping bag, deciding to dodge the question. "I didn't break what was in there did I?"

He frowned a bit, not understanding what she meant, until he followed her gaze to his hand. "Oh, this thing." He lifted the bag up and pulled out a little cardboard box, opening it carefully, and then gently pulled out what was inside. "See?" he asked, turning it to show her a miniature carousel in all its sparkling gold and pink glory. "It's for my cousin. She's turning six this year and she goes crazy for these things. Loves to collect 'em."

Jennifer's jaw dropped as she leaned down to get a closer look at the sight of the small figurine and just how beautiful it was. The details were amazing, especially on the three horses that circled it, one brown, one white, and another tan. There were tiny light pink roses and gold garlands that surrounded the round top as well as the bridles on the horses and the bottom. All the different shades of pink and gold and light magenta, along with glitter everywhere, made it look so magnificent.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, taking her eyes off of it for a second to look at him.

He smiled and pulled it back towards him, putting it back into the box, much to Jennifer's disappointment. "You think so? I just thought it was kinda cool looking. I was so tired of seeing green mixed with blue and orange and yellow. Those aren't really little girl colors."

Jennifer nodded and stood up straight. "Orange and blue's a really bad combination, even for a clown."

Jonathan smiled at her some more, switching the bag to his left hand. "So, you've seen a clown wear those colors before?"

Jennifer nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. I grew up in a circus and my best friend and my brothers were forced to wear the most hideous things you can think of in the name of entertainment. Lucky for me, I was a girl. I got to wear pastels, which were much more tolerable."

Jonathan's eyes widened in amazement when he heard this. "You grew up in the circus! Wow, that must've been a load of fun!"

Jennifer made a face and shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really. I mean, on occasion, yeah, but there was always some form of work that had to be done, before we actually got to go and have fun." She cringed at the memory of having to help Theo clean the animal cages when they both had ditched a performance to go play in a nearby lake and catch tadpoles. Trowa, Kate, and her parents weren't too happy with them. They were young, yes, but they already knew their obligations to the circus. That and they didn't say where they were going and their parents had grown upset, thinking the pair had been kidnapped or killed or something even worse...

She faltered at the thought and memories of her family. It had seemed so long ago, but she remembered them so well. Was it really only twelve years ago that they were taken away from her?

Jonathan seemed to notice her sudden change in moods and, seeming to know she was a bit emotional at the moment, extended his arm out to her in a happy manner, hoping to cheer her up. "Well, my lady, I think it's about time I take you somewhere and get you something to eat. And then we can bore each other to death with random stories of our lives. "

Jennifer stared into his eyes again and couldn't help but smile at what she was seeing. She looped her arm into his and pushed away her thoughts, so as to make her smile more sincere. "All right. But _you're_ paying, since you offered."

Jonathan gave a big laugh and pulled her close to him. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two laughed some more together and walked away down the plaza.

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* * *

"All right, Elysia, tell me the last thing you remember from last night. " Shane Maxwell leaned back in his chair that was next to Elysia's bed and studied her thoughtfully, pen and paper ready.

Elysia was sitting up in her bed, feeling a lot better after her rest. It was about eleven in the morning now and she was being interviewed by the head of security about the previous night's events. Jade was standing by the door, her presence needed as she was Elysia's doctor. Heero and Theo were also in the room, standing by as her moral support.

She frowned and looked to Theo, who was on the other side of her bed, looking at her worriedly, her hand in his. "Um," she said slowly," I was..." She made a face, unsure of what to say.

Theo was about to open his mouth to help her out when Shane cut in.

"Ah, uh. Nope. She's gotta do this on her own. No help from anyone. Any little thing said may warp her memory and make her think she saw what she didn't really see." He looked at Elysia expectantly. "Well?"

Theo frowned and looked to Heero questioningly, whose silence throughout the whole interview thus far was starting to weird him out.

Heero merely nodded the confirmation to Shane's explanation and studied his daughter, waiting for an answer.

Elysia tried as much as she could to remember, but nothing was coming. She gave up and looked at Shane, shaking her head.

Shane raised an eyebrow and looked to his notepad, scribbling some things down. "You sure?"

She nodded slowly, her head starting to hurt a bit.

Shane looked to Jade. "What do you say about that, Hon?"

Jade walked closer to Elysia. "You don't remember telling me when you woke up that you last remembered dancing with Theo?"

Elysia thought this over, ignoring the increasing pain in her head, and then nodded her head. She couldn't believe she had forgotten that. "Of, course! Now, I remember." She thought a second, then looked to Jade. "And you made fun of me, I believe."

Jade smiled and looked to Shane. "Well, she's right about that."

Shane wrote this down and looked back to Elysia. "All right... Let's start from the beginning then. What was the first thing you did yesterday?"

Elysia made a face at the question. "Woke up."

Everybody in the room held back their laughter, as Shane rolled his eyes.

"Okay, fine. What'd you do after you woke up?" he asked.

Elysia thought some more and said everything as it came to her mind. "I... got up and ate breakfast... Got dressed... Went to work... But then your dad came by for one of his visits and saw that I wasn't looking too well, so he sent me home early..."

Shane wrote all of this down, glancing back and forth between Elysia and his notepad. "Do you remember what time that was?"

Elysia nodded and said," About twelve thirty... I got home around one... And fell asleep." She stopped and looked to Shane, wondering what the relevance was to all of this.

Shane raised his eyebrow at her, waiting for more. "When did you wake up?"

Elysia opened her mouth and then stopped. She looked to Theo confusedly, unsure of the answer. "I ... I don't... know."

Shane raised an eyebrow at this, but wrote it down anyways. "So, you don't remember waking up or getting ready for the party?"

As Elysia struggled to remember, her head started to hurt more. She unknowingly gripped Theo's hand tighter as she closed her eyes, trying to ignore it. "I... I recall getting my dress out of the closet... And..." She put her other hand to her forehead, the pain becoming more unbearable.

"Elysia?" Theo asked concerned.

"I..." Her eyes grew tighter as the pain got worse. She rubbed at her temples with her free hand as she forced her mind to get over this and get out what she could remember from the night before. She managed to gasp out," Green... eyes," before doubling over, grabbing her head from the sharp, stabbing pain she was feeling.

Theo jumped to his feet and tried to hold her steady as she began to cry out. He looked to the others helplessly and confused.

Jade walked out of the room quickly and then returned a minute later with a syringe in her hand. She leaned over Elysia, pulling her arm out and injected it.

Theo felt Elysia steadily lighten in his arms and then completely stop tensing up as she leaned back into him, her cries down to small whimpers.

He looked to the others and made a face.

Shane sighed and stood up, brushing himself off as he closed his notebook shut. "I need to speak with you guys outside." He looked to Theo. "You can stay here. I'll fill you in later."

Theo narrowed his eyes slightly, never too happy when Shane told him to do something, but nodded anyways, knowing full well that he wasn't going to be leaving Elysia anytime soon.

Heero stood up and walked out, Jade and Shane not too far behind.

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"All right. We've obviously had some trouble getting information out of her. It appears she's been drugged with some sort of memory loss agent." Shane sighed again and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He looked to his left at Jade, who had her arms crossed. "I'm going to need you to take some blood tests. You know, the whole nine yards. See if-"

She pulled out her clipboard filled with Elysia's papers and handed them to him. "Way ahead of you, Maxwell. I did it right away. Checked her for every Preventer's drug in the database. Thought we should make sure and have an idea on what it is exactly we're dealing with."

Shane smiled slightly as he looked at the papers. "I knew I married you for a good reason." He sifted through the papers, trying to find the test information. "And what were the results?"

Jade crossed her arms again and looked to Heero. "Well, she tested positive for three of them. Which have the worse combination and side effects when put together."

Shane looked up worriedly as Heero shifted his weight on his legs, trying to hold back his apprehension about his daughter's safety, "Which ones are they?"

Jade sighed and looked through the small window in the door to Elysia's room. "I think it's fairly obvious." She looked to Shane expectantly. "You probably have an idea already."

"Hypnos?" He asked.

She nodded. "Along with Psyche. The last one hasn't even been named yet, as it's still being tested. So, I'm rather baffled as to how it got into these terrorists' hands." She raised an eyebrow. "Unless, of course, it's one of our own involved."

Heero frowned, as he thought this over. The first two he had known about from Duo. Hypnos was a particular drug the Preventer's used in order to put any dangerous criminals in custody in a comatose state, so as to prevent the suspect from causing harm to anybody who was watching him or her.

Psyche was a drug used to cause memory loss, so that any witnesses or criminals would forget ever talking to any of the Preventer officers. It was useful for any random civilian who happened in on something they weren't supposed to know. Also, the person who was injected with it was susceptible to mind manipulation. A person could be lead to believe whatever the officer told them.

But the last one...

"What does the third one do?" he asked Jade.

"Well," Jade looked up thoughtfully as she bit her lip. "As we saw with Elysia, it was made to work with Psyche. Whenever a person attempts to remember something that has happened within the six to eight hour period before the drug was injected, the drug sends a signal to the brain that triggers massive migraines. The more a person tries to remember something, the more pain he or she feels, hence, they don't _want_ to remember and end up being lousy witnesses. " She motioned towards Elysia's room. "Which is the case here."

"Why is it still being tested then?"

Jade let out a sigh and shrugged. "There have been harsh side effects... Some of the migraines get so bad they cause hemorrhages in the brain. Blood clots appear and travel up there. Sometimes, a tumor even forms." She motioned around with her hands. "The worse one is seizures. They last long after the person has... died..." She looked down. "In all honesty, I don't know why none of this has happened to Elysia. She's a damn miracle, considering the drug isn't exactly safe."

Heero let out an air of hopelessness. "So... There's a chance she might..."

Jade looked up at him as sympathetically as she could. "Yes and no. She appears to be out of the woods right now. No head trauma, loss of speech, no paralysis. As far as I can tell, either those guys were idiots and didn't give her enough of the third drug, or Hypnos may have countered it's effects."

"Or Elysia didn't have as much as the other victims," Heero mused.

Jade nodded. "That too."

The three stood silently, thinking this over. It was all so complicated, but it made sense. They looked up as Theo opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

"She's asleep now," he announced as he shut the door quietly and stood in front of it as though he were guarding the room. "So, what's the deal?"

"Well," Heero started, looking to Jade,"first off, is Elysia all right enough to come home?"

Jade grabbed the charts and papers back from Shane and quickly skimmed through them. "She's looking all right to me." She looked up to Heero quickly. "However, I would like to keep her here a bit longer for a bit of reassurance that her health _is_ okay. You know, observation and the likes. Make sure nothing happens."

Heero nodded and then frowned when he remembered something. "For how long?"

Jade looked to her watch and shrugged. "About later into the night. I'll say 8 or 9-ish."

Heero made a face and let out a sigh of frustration. "Damn. I'll be at work." He glanced to Theo. "Can you get her?"

"No problem," Theo answered, knowing that he was lying. He would have to call in to the factory and make sure it was okay. But that was never something easy. Especially when getting the previous night off was such a hassle. _Oh, well. I just won't call in at all. They won't care. I'll tell them later what happened and that I wasn't able to call earlier.. _

Heero nodded and looked to Shane and Jade. "All right. So, Theo will be here to take Elysia home. Is there anything else I need to know?"

Jade nodded back. "Yep. Medications and whatnot. It's very important that Elysia take it, because the-" She cut herself off as she realized she almost mentioned Elysia's still unknown pregnancy. She started over. "Because we don't know if the drugs are still affecting her." She turned away to walk down the hallway. "Follow me. I'll explain it all to you."

She walked off, Heero not far behind.

Theo and Shane looked at each other quietly. Both were wondering if Elysia was _really_ okay, but neither wanted to ask. They couldn't imagine their lives without her.

Shane broke the silence, as he was never one to stay quiet too long. "She'll be all right. I know it... I just hope we get these guys before they strike again."

Theo frowned at that. "You think they'll do something like this again?"

Shane nodded. "This isn't a one time deal. They want something. If only we knew what that was. And why... Why Elysia was a target too."

Theo grew silent again. That was the one thing nobody could understand. Why was Elysia attacked too? Nobody knew who she was. The pilots and their kids had passed her off as a niece of Quatre's so as to prevent any questions on her identity and her striking resemblance to Relena Peacecraft. Why would someone go after her?

"Theo?" Elysia's soft voice called from the room, interrupting Theo's thoughts.

He looked to Shane and gave a slight smile. "I'll be right back, "he said, opening the door to the room and walking in.

Shane shrugged and looked down at the notes he'd taken. It was going to be hell trying to gather what useful things he could from them. What confused him the most was when Elysia mentioned "green eyes". If she had been referring to Theo, why didn't she just say his name? Then again, it could've been Jennifer or anyone in Trowa's family. Green eyes weren't exactly an uncommon trait.

He looked up when he noticed someone walking up to him. "Jacob? What are you doing here?"

Jacob strolled over to Shane and stood next to him, shaking his hand. "Here for business. I've been assigned to watch over Elysia. I came here to oversee the interview with the head of security."

Shane made a face and motioned to Elysia's room. "Sorry to say, but you're too late. I just did it. Got what I could from her, but it's going to be a lot of trouble trying to piece it all together."

Jacob frowned and shook his head. He had rushed over to the hospital, but hadn't made it in time. Then again, from how Shane was reacting, he didn't miss much. "Mind if you fill me in?"

Shane glanced to Elysia's room seeing that Theo was busy holding her again and gave a shrug. "What the hell? I've got nothing better to do. It wouldn't hurt to work with a M.I.A agent on this."

Jacob's eyes widened as he looked around quickly, making sure nobody was around to hear. "Shh! You don't want to get me killed do you?"

Shane paused and thought that over. "Well... Nah. I don't want to hear Caterina whine." He threw an arm around Jacob's shoulders and started to walk down the hallway toward one of the empty waiting rooms. "C'mon, buddy. I'm just teasing. Let's go figure this thing out."

Jacob reluctantly followed, not wanting to leave Elysia as he had technically started his mission. But Theo was with her and Shane _did_ need his help...

"All right..." He took a couple steps forward, as Shane began to walk down the hallway. "I expect copies of your reports, by the way."

Shane waved a hand in dismissal. " I know, I know. You Marquise agents sure are pushy about that stuff."

Jacob held back a laugh at that sa they went on their way.


	5. The Aftermath

**_A Daughter's Will_**

Disclaimer: Nope. Still don't own Gundam Wing. Was it really that big of a surprise?

**A/N:** All righty, here we are at chapter 5! Took me a while, because I like to take my time with these things... And there was a bit of writer's block... . ;; At any rate, during this time I've noticed a LARGE amount of people suddenly reading "An Orphan's Life". Which means, I assume, that everybody saw this one first, hadn't read the first story, and decided to go to that one first. So, thanks to you guys who've brought that fic from about 300 hits to well over 1,000 hits. It's a really big deal for me.

However, this dear fic of mine has also been getting hits as well. My problem here is that, even though a lot of you are reading this, there are still only 9 reviews. It's really bittersweet to know a lot of you are reading this, but only 9 people have reviewed. Please, readers, drop a review. Let me know that you're into this fic (or not) and are waiting for updates. Motivate me:D

With that said, on with the story...And I'll see you next chap!.

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Jennifer and Jonathan had long since left the Sank Kingdom Plaza behind them and were now enjoying a nice rest on a bench under some trees, after having walked some distance around the city.

The two had spent the last couple of hours talking and getting to know each other. The conversation started with silly nonsense about random things they saw on their walk and was now getting towards Jonathan's family tree.

Jennifer was really starting to like this handsome, blue-green-eyed man. He was smart, funny, and it didn't hurt that he was well built. She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have bumped into him at the Plaza.

Right now he was explaining his immediate family to her, as she had just asked him about his niece.

"My niece is the first of three kids to my older sister Samantha. Samantha's 25 years old, married, and living on the ritzy, rich side of here. I have another sister, Lisa, who is two years younger than me, married with a baby due next month, and also lives in the ritzy, rich side of here." He looked ot her and smiled, the many jokes his sisters had of his bachelorhood flashing through his mind.

Jennifer smiled back, liking the way he told his stories. "And, because you haven't told me, how old are you?"

He laughed and ran his hand through his dark auburn hair. "I'm 22." He grabbed ahold of her hand and continued his story. "So, whenever we have family get togethers, I am verbally assaulted with 'why aren't you married?' and 'my children need an aunt that doesn't look like me'. " He paused to laugh at the last part. "And then I suddenly gain 50 pounds of miniature people weight. 'Uncle Jonny, horsey ride!' " His smile widened at the thought of his niece and nephews. "Kind of exhilarating, really."

Jennifer laughed at the cuteness of it all. "So, what about your parents?"

Jonathan's smile faded at the question. "They were killed when I was younger," he said quietly, looking down. "I... it was a random terrorist attack. You know, the usual innocent civilian casualties. It was something that couldn't be prevented." He looked to Jennifer and gave a slight smile, hoping to lighten things up. "It's all fine, though. My aunt and uncle got us and took care of us. They were really great about the whole thing. I love them just as much as my parents."

Jennifer took this in silently, fairly sympathetic. It was strange to find someone who had shared a similar past as hers. She wondered, though, what it would've felt like if she had at least had her brothers and sister alive too. Jonathan was so lucky.

He continued to look at her, and then playfully pushed her. "But enough about me. What about you? What of your family?" It was an obvious attempt to change the somber mood.

Jennifer smiled a bit and shrugged. "Well, I was adopted too." She really didn't want to bring the mood down, so she gave as vague an answer as possible.

Jonathan's eyes widened. "Really? How weird."

Jennifer nodded. "I was just thinking that, myself." She smiled some more at him.

He smiled back warmly and reached for her hand. "Well, if you don't mind my asking... what happened to your parents? Or did you never know them?"

Jennifer took a deep breath and looked down slowly. She hadn't spoken to anyone about this, except that time when she reunited with Trowa. A few excerpts every now and then to Theo, but not the whole story. He only knew that both of their mothers were killed within the same night and where she had been this whole time. She didn't get into the details with him, though. It was something nobody ever asked her about and something she herself never volunteered.

When she realized that the conversation was going in this direction, she didn't intend to tell Jonathan. It just seemed weird. And it was still painful, no matter how much she denied it.

She took another deep breath and looked up into his eyes. He seemed so interested and caring. And she really did like him. It would be nice to unload her burden just for a little bit.

"Well... They were killed... Not like your parents, though." She waited for him to ask for more. She was willing to tell only as much as he wanted to know. She didn't want to create pity for herself.

He, of course, didn't want to leave it at that. "What happened to them?" he asked softly.

Jennifer looked back to the ground and stared at her hands folded in her lap. "I'm not sure who did it. Or why... All I know is... one night I go to bed with my baby sister Sara sleeping nearby in her crib... And my brothers in their tent nerby, and my parents in theirs... And then, the next morning I wake up to find my father packing up a few things and grabbing Sara, telling me we need to go."

Jonathan stared at her in confusion. "Go where?"

Jennifer looked up and stared across the walkway at the trees on the other side. "I don't know. We never made it." She remembered her father telling her about heaven, but being that she was little, she hadn't quite understood what he meant then. Now that she was older, she did. But she didn't want to think more into why he knew they were all going to die.

"We were running in the snow to get away from these ... men that I've never see." She hadn't wanted to say "men" since, they were actually monsters for doing what they did. But she couldn't think of any other word.

"I guess my mom and dad had a plan to meet somewhere, because when we got to a certain point in the woods, my dad stopped and she showed up in our car with my brothers." She looked at him now, staring right into his eyes. "But... there were people chasing them in some black cars. They were ramming my family's car and managed to knock them off the road.. and crash..." She paused to compose herself, so as to prevent the tears she felt coming from flowing out.

Jonathan, sensing how hard this was for her, squeezed her hand comfortingly. "You can stop now, if you want."

Jennifer shook her head and smiled tearfully at him. "No... No, that's okay... I don't mind. It... It feels good to finally tell someone all of this."

He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "Are you sure?"

Jennifer nodded and squeezed his hand as reassurance. "Yeah... It's just that... They all died that morning. My brothers, my sister, my mom, my dad... But I lived... Because I couldn't keep up with my dad and tripped and fell..." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "If I had kept up with him... I... I..." She trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

Jonathan nodded, and pulled her close to him, hugging her. "It's usually best not think about what could have happened. You're here right now. And that's what matters."

Jennifer looked up to him, knowing he was right, but knowing that she couldn't stop feeling that way. "Yeah?"

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek. "Yep..."

Jennifer blushed at the kiss and looked down, a bit embarrassed. After a long, slightly awkward silence, she glanced back up at him, smiling a bit. "So, now what?"

Jonathan smiled back and stood up. "Well..." He reached a hand down to her to lift her up. "Would you like to meet my parents?"

Jennifer allwoed herself to be pulled up and smiled ever more at Jonathan. As weird as the question was, she didn't mind it. Cemetaries were usually nice and quiet. That and some more alone time with him wouldn't hurt. "Sure," she said happily.

The two then linked arms again and began to walk away.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"So, what's going on then?" Caterina asked, turning around to better grab various things on the kitchen counter she needed to make her lunch. She inwardly groaned from the pain caused by her laying her head across her shoulder to keep her cell phone from sliding out. She really needed to find her hands free headphones to prevent all of this trouble.

"What do you mean?" Theo's voice asked back, coming through her sparkly teal phone.

Caterina rolled her eyes, hating that she had to dumb her sentences down. "I mean, what 's going to happen now? Is Elysia staying in the hospital or is she going home or to a secret hidden base? What happened this morning with Shane?"

"Oh, that..." Theo paused. "Apparently Shane didn't get any useful information from Elysia because she was drugged with some Preventer's super secret ...stuff... And as for where she's going from this point, I don't feel comfortable discussing that over the phone. You don't know who might be listening. Or who may have bugged your ridiculous cell phone."

"Hey!" Caterina shouted. "My phone is not ridiculous! You just don't know style."  
"My choice of style doesn't require everything I own to sparkle. "

"Pfft. Says the guy who wore the same red glitter boxers for four days straight." Caterina smirked a bit as Theo, predictably, went on the defensive side.

"Hey! I told you! I was only 5 and the laundromat had banned the circus, because Misha had to go and put her throwing knives in the dryer and set half the place on fire! I had no choice!" He paused, before adding, " And those were part of my costume anyways. I had to wear them."

Caterina let out a laugh as she grabbed some utensils out of a nearby drawer. "That's not what I heard."

"What do you mean?... Was Jennifer telling you stories again?" Theo's voice sounded as though he were trying to hide something.

Caterina shrugged as she changed the subject, by repeating," So, when are you guys going home?"

Theo let out a growl of annoyance. "I just told you, Cat. I don't know, and even if i did, I can't really speak of that over the pone. This place isn't quite secure. "

Caterina smirked as Theo's answer sounded a bit like he was just lying to irritate her on purpose. She placed some vegetables on a cutting board to make a salad, and pulled out a knife from another nearby drawer. "Okay, fine. Don't tell me. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. I've been really worried, you know." She paused, thinking about the long night she'd had at the Preventer's hospital. She and her father waited for quite a long time, before some random guard ushered them out of the hospital, because they were "in the way" and that "someone would tell them what they wanted shortly". If people she knew, grew up, and loved hadn't worked for the Preventer's, she'd sue them for their rudeness.

Theo let out a sigh and paused, before saying quietly," I know. We all are."

Caterina grabbed a tomato and began to slice it. "So, are you going straight home or what? Doesn't Heero have work tonight?"

"Yeah. I did too, but I called in. I'm debating going home tonight."

"Well, yeah." She moved the tomatoes aside and grabbed the lettuce. "Elysia's going to need you tonight, right?"

"Yeah... Hey, Cat?"

Caterina adjusted her cell phone and went to chop the lettuce. "Yeah?"

"Are you aware that we've been talking for more than five minutes without insulting each other?"

Caterina paused thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Eh, so we've grown up. Whatever." She picked up the lettuce and put it in a bowl and then reached for a cucumber. " So, uh... Everything's all right with Elysia, then? She has no permanent damage or anything?"

"Nothing as far as Jade and the other doctors can see. Not a good enough observation, in my opinion, but she seems fine..." He trailed off, uncertainty in his voice.

"Ah, she'll be fine. It's Elysia, remember? She heals up quickly," Caterina said comfortingly, putting the now cut cucumbers in the bowl. She looked up when she heard a loud thump nearby.

She must've gasped, as Theo then asked," Is everything all right?"

Caterina said nothing as she listened closely to her surroundings. When she heard nothing, she shrugged it off and went back to making her salad. "Sorry. I thought I heard something."

Theo laughed lightly on the other end. "It's probably that serial killer you were talking about the other day."

Caterina snorted. "Ha. Yeah, right. He'd have to get through all the security crap I put on this property first. And then me." She frowned when she thought she heard a creak.

Theo laughed even more at that. "And then Jacob... Maybe it's him?"

"Nah, Jacob's at work." Caterina glanced around casually, gripping the kitchen knife tightly. "Unless he's been lying about that and is cheating on me or something."

"Aw, don't say that. That's just wrong. Ol' Jakey loves you."

Caterina froze when she heard footsteps right behind her. She definitely wasn't hearing things now.

She prepared to lift the knife and stab whoever it was, but the person quickly grabbed her and pulled her tightly close to their body.

She screamed into her cell phone, as she began to hear laughter and then felt Jacob's light, gentle kisses on her neck.

"Aw, don't tell me I scared you, Cat. That hurts me so."Jacob loosened his hold on her as she jerked away in fake anger.

"You asshole!" she cried out. "I almost killed you! Do you have any idea how mad I would've been if I killed you!"

Jacob shrugged and gave a little laugh. "Is it close to how you're acting now?"

Se let out another scream, this time from frustration, and punched him in the arm. "Jerk!"

"Cat?" Theo's voice drifted up from her cell phone that had fallen on the floor.

"Who's that?" Jacob asked her confusedly.

Caterina sighed and picked up her phone. "Sorry about that." She shot a glare at Jacob and mouthed "Theo" at him.

"Ah... So, Jacob is home."

"Yeah. He certainly is." She narrowed her eyes, secretly knowing that she really wasn't all that angry. "Well, I'll leave you two to tango."

"Okay. Tell Elysia I said hi. And I hope she feels better."

"Will do. Tell Jakey he's an ass."

"Defintely. Bye."

"Bye."

Caterina pushed the end button on her cell phone and then turned slowly to face Jacob.  
"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were at work!"  
Jacob had taken some of Caterina's freshly cut vegetables and was nibbling on them thoughtfully. He shrugged as he bit into a cucumber. "I had the day off... Well, sort of."

Caterina stared at him confusedly. "What?"

Jacob sighed and leaned against the counter. "My dad gave me the day off after I missed my mission and gave me a new assignment. It's my 'vacation time'."

Caterina frowned as she tried to process this. "What? ... Your vacation ti- You missed your mission this morning!" Her eyes widened as real anger began to overcome her.

Jacob saw this and tried to explain. "I know, Cat. I-"

She took a step towards him, the kitchen knife gleaming in her hand as she never actually put it down. "The reason you couldn't go to the party with me last night was because of this mission, and you didn't even go?"

Jacob moved his hands up and down in an attempt to calm her down. "I know, sweetie, and I'm really sorry. It's just... I went to visit Lisette at the hospital last night and I ended up losing track of time. I fell asleep and didn't wake up in time for the mission. In fact, my dad was my wake-up call."

Caterina closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten. She exhaled loudly as she tried to calm down. "So, why are you here now?"

Jacob motioned around lamely. "My dad was angry, but he admitted he was working the base too hard. He even said that I needed a break. Which is why, like I told you earlier, he gave me a new assignment slash vacation."

Caterina crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"Well, I'm Elysia's new bodyguard."

Caterina made a face at that. "Bodyguard? What for? I thought last night was considered an accident."

Jacob shrugged again. "Well, my dad feels that it would be best if she had someone around her 24/7."

Caterina now leaned against the kitchen counter across from Jacob. " So that means you'll be doing what exactly?"

Jacob looked up as he thought it over. " Well... Escorting her from place to place, making sure she's safe, keeping an eye on the individuals around her... Pretty much ensuring that she'll live for a while."

"Oh." Caterina looked down slowly. "You said vacation, so I thought... something else."

"Oh!" Jacob rushed to hold Caterina. "Don't worry! We'll still get out time together! In fact," he reached out to her and pulled her closer to him," I already went over to the hospital, talked it out with Theo and my dad, and got the night off." He twirled her around and kissed her on the cheek. "So, we have the whole night to ourselves." He kissed her agian, this time on the lips. "What do you say? You in or out?"

Caterina stared at him as she thought this over. She then slowly smiled at him as she gave him a hug. "All right. Fine." She smirked a little. "So, does this mean you'll actually help me out with the wedding plans?"

Jacob smiled and bowed. "But, of course, my dear!"  
They both laughed as he straightened up and grabbed her, dancing with her in the kitchen despite the lack of music.

It would be a good night after all.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Dorothy looked up in annoyance as the intercom on her desk crackled on. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any more politicians or citizens out to change the world in their favor. She was also getting sick of her secretary. The man had no clue how to work her office.

He had once mistaken a paper shredder for a fax machine and wound up destroying an important document. She didn't fire him then, because it was his first week and she thought he'd catch on from that point. Which she now regretted, since he unfortunately grew on her. Why did she have to care about people so much?

After a few seconds of static, and _only_ static, she let out a breath of irritation and reached over to touch the "on" button to her side of the intercom. "What, Andrew?" she asked exasperatedly.

She let go of the button and waited patiently. She frowned, when there was no response. She pushed the button again and said, a bit dipleased by his lack of speech,"Andrew? What do you want?"

She let go of the button and waited some more. When nothing happened, she let out a groan and laid her head down on her desk. She took a deep breath and then stood up to leave her office and have a nice long talk with Andrew about playing with the intercom. "How many times do I have to tell him that it's not a toy?"

A crashing sound outside her office caused her to stop in her tracks.She gazed at the door, a bit nervously, and listened intently on what was going on the other side.

It had grown eerily silent.

She backed up to her desk and reached under it, pulling out her prized rapier. As much as Quatre insisted she keep a gun for her protection rather than a sword, she ignored his pleas and kept it. She didn't feel the need to use agun when she was much more handy with a sword. Furthermore, the person on the other end would suffer more from a stabbing than a quick painless death from a bullet.

She grippped the hilt tightly as she waited expectantly for whoever was on the other end. There was a long, suspenceful silence, before her office door was kicked in and a tall, twenty-something man rushed in, glancing around.

She prepared herself for any attack, the blade slightly raised, as she asked rather calmly,"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in here?"

The man smirked at the sight of her, clearly amused by her choice of weapon, and crossed his arms over his chest, as he walked purposefully towards her, stopping three feet away.

"Who I am is not important... And I'm not here to kill you, if that's what you think... Unless you don't cooperate, that is." His smirk widened a bit at that as he motioned at a nearby coffee table and chairs, littered with a tea set and varoius snacks. "Why don't we both sit down and have a nice chat?"

Dorothy snorted, keeping her stance, as he eyes never left his. "Like hell, I will. I don't know you, nor will I sit and chat as if I did. How about you just tell me why you felt the need to rush into my office and trash everything? Or maybe, tell me why I shouldn't have you arrested on the spot?"

The man said nothing as he reached over and grabbed the chair he was motioning at and sat down, unfazed by her threat. "You can't have me arrested," he said with certainity.

Dorothy arched an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"

The man moved his arm towards the table and grabbed one of the teacups that was on it and the teapot, pouring himself some tea. He took a cautious sip of it, before stirring in some sugar. After having another sip, he looked up to Dorothy, who was getting more irritated, and smiled a sinister grin. "I've killed all of your security personnel as well as any other person who is capable of saving your life. The women are tied up, as well as the other weaklings who call themselves men. Nobody can protect you at this moment, you know."

Dorothy's eyes narrowed at that, and she stepped closer towards him, quickly closing the gap between them, pointing her rapier at his chest. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now?"

The man laughed at that and set down his cup of tea. "For one thing, you _can't_ kill me. Not with that pathetic excuse for a weapon. For another-" He reached into his dark coat and pulled out a gun, aiming it at her."I can kill you before you even had a chance to kill me."

Dorothy merely stared him straight in the eye, not really afraid of this arrogant asshole. It was her turn to smirk, as she said,"Oh, yeah? Let's see about that!"

Before the man knew what was happening, she kicked the gun out of his hand and shoved him out of the chair, knocking him to the floor. She quickly pinned him to the ground, holding his hands back with her right hand, while holding the sword with her left, pushing the sharp point into his neck, not really holding back on how deeply she pushed it.

"I'm going to ask you one more time,"she said as the man struggled underneath her. "Who are you and what the fuck do you want?"

To her surprise the man began to laugh. She faltered a bit, wondering what on earth and the colonies was causing this guy not to care. She quickly regained her composure and dug the sword's blade deeper into his neck. "Oh, you think this is funny? How about I cut out your throat and then we'll see just how much you're laughing then?"

The man chuckled some more as he then managed to yank his hands out of Dorothy's grip and grabbed her arm, yanking her to the floor. She cried out as she lost her balance and struggled to keep her sword on any vital part of his body.

The man tried to get to his feet as Dorothy rolled on the floor. He kicked around a bit, hoping to keep her from getting on him again. She quickly grabbed his left leg and shoved her rapier into it, as she then got to to her feet and rushed over to where she had kicked his gun, ignoring the man's screams of pain. She picked it up and quickly went to stand over him, aiming it at his head. She cocked the gun and stared at him coldly. "Now, then. Are you going to tell me who you are?"

The man groaned some more as he tried to pull the sword out of his leg. "It doesn't matter if you know who I am, or if you kill me." he panted. He looked up at her defiantly as he added," There's more of me out there who will come in my place and take you down."

Dorothy shrugged at his insolence and looked at him unsympathetically. "Okay. I'll be sure to shoot them like I did you."

She was about to pull the trigger, when he looked down and muttered under his breath," And they'll be sure to kill that girl you're protecting."

Dorothy paused and stared at him confusedly. "Girl I'm protecting? What the hell are you talking about?"

He looked up at her again. "That orphan you helped not too long ago. If you show any mercy for her life, you'll kill her now. Because what we have planned for her will be far worse."

Dorothy stood silently, as she took this in. Why did he have to go and say that at the last second?

_He means Elysia. How does he know about her? And about what Quatre did for her? He can't know about her!... Unless..._

She straightened herself up and shook her head. "Ha, yeah right. Good one. I have no clue what you're talking about," she lied.

The man gave a slight smile. "Do you?"

Dorothy narrowed her eyes. "Nice try confusing me. You managed to stretch your life out a few more seconds. I'm still going to kill you."

The man rolled onto his side, seeming to ignore the pain in his leg and smiled even more. "Really? I don't think you will, now that you know I know about Peacecraft's daughter."

Dorothy bit her lip in frustration, not wanting to let on that she knew what he meant, but also not wanting to kill him, since he may hold valuable information on the New Year's Party, or even more.

He suddenly grew cocky, when he realized he had the upper hand. "How about you put that gun down and we'll have a discussion on what my group wants."

Dorothy rolled her eyes and kept her aim steady. "How about you shut the hell up, while I call the police to haul your ass out of here?" Nobody told Dorothy Catalonia-Winner what to do,

The man frowned and looked down, seeming to not like where this was heading.

Dorothy, meanwhile, debated in her mind on what to do. She couldn't very well leave him to run to her desk and call. He could have another weapon on him and take advantage of those few seconds. But she couldn't kill him either, since he knew something.

As the man attempted to get to his feet, she kicked him hard in the ribs, causing him to fall to the floor, screaming in agony. ""Where do you think you're going! Stay down!"

At that moment, she heard a fluttering noise by her door. She looked up quickly, aiming the gun, ready to shoot the next person she saw.

Her secretary Andrew was standing in the doorway holding some coffee cups in a foam tray, staring back in shock at her, completely confused on what was going on. "I- I- uh," he stuttered.

Dorothy sighed and lowered the gun. "Andrew, what the hell are you doing? Can't you see I'm busy?" She paused when she suddenly remembered what the man had said he'd done to the others in the building. She looked questioningly at Andrew. "And where were you? Did you leave the front desk unattended again?"

Andrew smiled meekly and held up the tray slowly. "I left to get you some coffee. I was getting tired, and I figured you might need a caffeine boost too." At this point, he then noticed the man on the floor with Dorothy's rapier in his leg. His eyes widened and he glanced back to Dorothy. "What's going on?"

Dorothy held back the urge to laugh, realizing how odd she must've looked. She walked over to the man who was still writhing on the floor in pain, and lifted her left foot, placing it hard on the man's back. "Oh, well, we just had a little disagreement. It seems that our friend here-", she nudged him a bit for emphasis," decided he wanted to talk to me right away. But then he decided that he'd rather test my combat skills instead. Apparently, he likes to feel the end of a sword touching his bones. Sadistic fellow, isn't he?" She smirked a bit, starting to enjoy this. It'd been a while since she got to kick someone's ass.

Andrew, though, just continued looking at her in bewilderment. "Oh... I see... Is there anything you like me to do?"

Dorothy smiled sweetly and nodded. "Oh, why yes. Do please call the police and let them know that some man tried to attack me. And that he murdered others in this building."

Andrew paled at what she said and nodded slowly. "Uh, yes, Miss Dorothy." He walked away to his desk nervously.

Dorothy sighed again, and looked down to the man, rubbing her heel into his back some more. "That's Andrew. He's a bit dense, but really good about keeping his cool under pressure... I hope you learned something today."

The man just glared silently at the floor, thoroughly pissed that he'd lost.

Dorothy just smiled more and looked back to the office door, waiting patiently for the police to come.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Jennifer sat in front of the t.v. again in her house, for the second night in a row. A random show was on that she wasn't exactly watching. She grabbed a handful of chips out of the bowl that was sitting on her lap and munched on a few of them.

It was starting to become another long, depressing night.

After spending the whole day with Jonathan, she went home, hoping that Elysia called with an explanation on why she never showed up.

But there hadn't been any any messages on her voicemail. Not even from Caterina or any of the other pilots and their children. She was beginning to think she was being left out of something big and fun.

She sighed and picked up the t.v. remote, channel surfing through the nromal cable trash. Nothing really appealed to her and after a while, she threw the remote down in defeat, stopping on one of the newschannels.

Was the whole world against her?

She jumped when the phone suddenly began to ring, and nearly lunged ar it desperately, her boredom getting the best of her.

"Hello?" she nearly shouted excitedly in the ohone.

"Uh, is this Jen?" a high pitched voice asked uncertainly.

Jennifer frowned, not sure who was on the phone. "Yes... Who's this?"

"Oh, it's me, Beth... Er, Elizabeth Noventa. Cat's friend."

Jennifer searched her memory, trying to place this girl. Caterina had so many friends, it was hard to keep track of them.

Then she remembered the somewhat shy, petite red-head she'd met, first in high school during her freshman year, and then later reintroduced at one of Caterina's parties.

"Oh, yeah. Beth..." She frowned confusedly. "Why are you calling me?"

Beth laughed lightly an the other end. "I kow. It's a bit weird to call you out of the bulue.. But, um, I was wondering if you've heard from Caterina? I've been trying to get a hold of her all day and she hasn't answered."

Jennifer let out a small laugh. "I've been calling all day too, but she hasn't answred my calls either. I fgured she had a long night, slept in, and ignored all calls because she was hungover, and hates everything that has to do with the wedding right now."

"Oh." Beth sounded confused. There was an awkward silence, before she added lamely. "I had a question about the whole bridesmaid thing."

"Ah..." Jennifer trailed off, unsure of what to say or do. She really didn't want to hang up Beth as this was something to do. She'd been waiting for a phone call all night and she didn't want to ignore this, just because she didn't really know the other person.

And then it hit her.

She still didn't know how to help Jacob out with the whole dress thing. But maybe if she enlisted the help of one of Caterina's friends, then she'd be able to get the task done.

And it wouldn't matter if she just told Beth. She was in the wedding and wasn't a big talker anyways.

"Hey, Beth?" Jennifer asked carefully.

"Yes?" Beth replied, her soft voice nearly at a whisper.

"You wouldn't happen to have tomorrow night off, would you?"

Beth sounded surprised as she answered," Um, yeah. Actually, I have nothing to do... Why do you ask?"

Jennifer smiled, happy with where this was going. "Well, Jacob asked me to help him with a surprise he's doing for Caterina. But I'm having problems with it. So, I was wondering if you might be of some help."

"Well, what is it exactly?" Beth sounded more than interested.

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Just meet me at the Sank Kingdom Plaza tomorrow, okay? In front of that dress shop by the bakery."

"Um," Beth paused, uncertainity ringing in her voice. Jennifer could just see the the wheels turning in Beth's head as she debated this. Finally, she gave an answer. "Sure, no problem."

"Good." Jennifer's smile widened. "I'll let Cat know you called, okay?"

"All right. Thanks... Bye."

"Bye!" Jennifer hung up the phone happily. Finding Caterina a dress wasn't going to be all that hard now.

She crossed her arms and leaned back into her couch, satisfied. Her eyes drifted over to the television screem where the news program was showing shots of what looked like the Preventer's party.

Jennifer frowned slightly and grabbed the remote to raise the colume. Maybe now she could hear how great it was.

"... And there's still no word on what caused the deaths of four guests at the party, and the near fatal deaths of two other guests. One, as you know, is still in a coma, while the other, the youngest victim, experienced head trauma and memory loss..." As the reporter droned on, shots of random people being loaded into ambulances were shown.

Jennifer's eyes widened as she and she gasped as she saw Elysia on a gurney, an oxygen mask on her face, as she was being rushed into an ambulance.

"No wonder... "She muttered to herself.

As a shot of Duo was placed n the screen, the news reporter announced him as a representative of the Preventer's, commenting on the situation.

Jennifer jumped up and grabbed her jacket, turning the t.v. off in the process.

Now, she'd have to drive over to Heero and Elysia's apartment to make sure she was all right.

She mentally slapped herself for not even thinking that something _bad _could have happened. She 'd have to make it up somehow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**A/N:** Okay, there's Chapter 5! Now, tell me what you think. :)


	6. Danger Again

_**A Daughter's Will**_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.

**A/N: **So, here's Chapter 6. Sorry that it took me so long to get this out. I didn't mean to. But, as always, my internet connection has to be cut off for some stupid reason or another. On the plus side, I still have all of my documents intact, so there's no retyping needed. :) Anywho, just go on and R&R and I'll see you next chapter. ;D

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Theo glanced over to the passenger side of his car at Elysia. There had been an unusual, and somewhat awkward, silence between the two, since they'd left the hospital. He hadn't expected a a big conversation on the way back, since she _was_ hospitalized and most likely tired. But he didn't think it'd be so quiet. Or feel so empty and .. almost tense.

Right now, Elysia was staring out the window, seeming to avoid him. Although, he brushed that thought off quickly. Why would she not want to talk to him, of all people?

After thinking it through, he decided to say something and break the silence. "Are you all right?"

Elysia nearly jumped at the sound of his voice. She'd been so deep in thought that she didn't realize that this was the first time she'd heard Theo's voice all night.

She looked slowly over to him and smiled weakly. "I'm just... tired," she said, slightly lying. She felt very nauseous and cold, but she didn't want to let Theo catch on to her being pregnant. Now wasn't a good time for that.

She stared at Theo as he drove, her eyes slowly trailing over his every feature. She was so surprised by his appearance. His deep emerald green eyes had grown smaller, and looked worn. His face was just as tired looking, his smile seeming to be hard to make, almost forced.

She debated asking how work was treating him.

Theo, in the meantime, had gone back to focus on driving. He didn't like how it got quiet again, but he didn't know what to do to fix it. He wondered if he should have perhaps went to work anyways. But then he remembered just how much he didn't want to go.

It hadn't been easy to get the night off from work at the factory, as he expected. But upon telling his boss the reason why, he seemed more lenient. Not sympathetic, but understanding.

Theo had wanted to take Elysia somewhere else, like a hotel or his apartment, somwhere safe and secure, but the pilots made it clear that he should go straight to Heero's apartment.

Not that the apartment where Heero and Elysia lived in for the past year wasn't safe. It was just unnerving to him to go straight home after an unusual occurrence at the party of the year where people have died.

If he had been Elysia, he would have went straight to a realtor's office right away. He wouldn't have felt safe anymore.

Although, he hadn't felt safe since the other night where the man had called him by his name. He still hadn't told anyone about the incident, but it bothered him a lot.

Furthermore, his boss hadn't made any statements about it, even though the man implied he could do something to Theo regarding his job.

Theo sighed, pushing all of this from his mind. All he wanted was to do everything he could to make Elysia comfortable, safe, and happy.

Elysia had looked up at him when he sighed, and frowned. Was _he_ okay?

"How about you, green eyes?" she asked, concerned, breaking the silence. "You look wiped out."

Theo smiled and gave a laugh. "Yeah, well, work's been killing me. My first day off in weeks and it all caught up with me today." He glanced over at her and winked. "I'll be fine. Nothing to worry about here."

Elysia smiled back faintly as she wrapped her hands in his. She looked back out the car window in time to see that they had come to her street now. She held back the uneasiness at being home so soon after what happened. Especially since Heero wasn't home tonight. She never liked being alone in the apartment.

As Theo pulled to a stop in front of the complex, he squeezed her hand and asked, "Would you like me to walk you in or carry you?" He smiled a bit, hoping that making light of the situation would help calm her down.

Elysia smiled back, but shook her head. "No, that's okay.You've already done enough." She unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll be fine from here. Thank you."

She then got out of the car as quickly as she could, before he could protest.

She didn't want to wear him out any more than he already was, and also risk him finding out about the baby.

She walked briskly through the apartment buildings along the pathways, making her way to the apartment she'd shared with her father.

She tried to fight her feelings of discomfort as she went up the staircase leading to her home. She'd turn down Theo's offer to walk her, but she still didn't want to walk alone tonight. She wished her father didn't have to work. It would've made the situation a lot better. She sighed and continued walking...

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Theo watched Elysia as she quickly walked away from his car, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. He tried to hold back the hurt he felt at her leaving him as soon as she could.

He told himself that she was just tired and perhaps wanted to be alone, after having the attention of the news reporters, Preventers', the former pilots, their children, and just about anyone else in the world.

But deep down, he felt that she was avoiding him for some reason. She hadn't spoken much at all since the party, and he was starting to believe it was something more than her just being in shock over the whole situation. She was a lot stronger than that.

Unless, she was more troubled by what happened than she let on. There _was_ that possibilty. Maybe she was afraid to say anything.

He stared at the apartment complex as he watched Elysia disappear from his view. It was so dark where she was at, the lights by the walkway burned out. He wondered how she could just walk by so easily, the dark not really getting to her, like it would him.

He wasn't really fond of the dark. Never was. Not since that night when his mother...

He sighed and glanced to his watch to see the time. As late as it was, he didn't feel right just dropping Elysia off and then leaving right away. He didn't like that she didn't want to be walked. It just wasn't like Elysia to turn down any offers to spend more time with him. Especially when they hadn't seen each other in a long time.

He wondered if he'd done something wrong.

Theo looked back to the apartment complex, and frowned when he thought he saw a flash of light in the window of Heero and Elysia's apartment.

_Did she already get inside__? That was quick._

He stared at the window a little longer, and made a face, when he saw nothing but black. He was probably just seeing things But, then again, it wouldn't hurt to be sure if Elysia was okay...

_Although, she was really in a rush to go._

He debated a little more on what to do. _I can't just leave her alone... Jacob, Shane, and all our dads would all be pissed at me if I did... _

He looked up at the window again, his hand touching the keys that were still in the ignition. He thought a few seconds longer, then yanked them out. He just didn't feel right leaving her. And something just didn't feel right.

He opened the car door and got out, being sure to lock his car door before shutting it. Even though his car was a piece of junk, there were still people out there who would take it just for the parts. And he needed the damn thing.

_I hope she doesn'tget mad at me for worrying so much... I just have to be sure..._

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Elysia let out a sigh of relief as she opened the door that lead to the inside of her building which was conveniently located by the entrance to her apartment. She really was lucky that she didn't have to walk down the long, dimly lit hallway that her neighbors had to. Her apartment was the first one on the right.

She pulled out her key and inserted it into the keyhole, slightly surprised by how the door swung open easily. She frowned slightly, but shrugged it off, attributing it to her just being tired.

She instinctively reached out with her right hand to flip the light switch on as she closed the door behind her. When the lights didn't come on, she made a face in annoyance.

Was it her turn to pay the power bill? Did she forget again? She was going to have to call in the morning now, and have another argument with the electric company.

She wandered down the short hallway into the living room, tripping on things here or there, her only light source coming from the moon shining through the sliding glass door on the other side of the room.

She turned left, slightly used to walking in the dark from all the morning sickness she'd been having, and pretty much knowing the layout of the apartment like the back of her hand.

She opened the door to her room and turned to the left, quickly flopping down onto her bed.

_Ahhh... This is so nice and comfortable after that stiff, cold hospital bed, _she thought happily.

She reached over blindly with her right hand to grab the framed picture she had of her birthday, the last one of her mother with her, to do her routine bedtime ritual of her filling her mother in on how her day was.

It was silly, and at times she felt stupid for doing it, but she wanted to tell her mom things anyways, just in case she _was_ listening.

When her hand touched nothing, she frowned and felt around her bedside dresser some more. She gasped out in pain as something sharp sliced and slipped into her fingers. She sat up quickly, holding her injured hand and looked to the dresser or see what it was that cut her.

She froze when she saw that the top of her dresser was cleared off, except for the broken pieces of glass. She glanced down to the floor in front of the dresser, trying to ignore the feeling of dread creeping into her.

She inwardly groaned when she saw that the picture frame had fallen and was smashed to pieces.She reached down to pick up the picture, wondering how on earth and the colonies the picture could have fallen and break the way it did.

That was when she noticed the rest of her room.

Everything was either broken, or thrown on the floor. Her clothes were scattered here or there, her dresser's drawers pulled out and thrown, broken pieces of them all over the carpet. Her entire room had been ransacked.

And then it sank in. The door had swung easily, because it was already open. And the lights were out because...

Her eyes widened as she realized she had to get out and fast. She shoved the picture into her pocket and opened her bedroom door, running as fast as she could.

As she neared the front door, she heard it. The unmistakable sound of footsteps crunching on all the things thrown on the floor.

She tried to get away, but the person grabbed her from behind and roughly yanked her backwards. She let out a scream as she fell back on the floor.

The person slapped her across the face and shoved her against the nearby wall. "Stay quiet or die," a man's deep voice hissed in her ear.

She whimpered at the hot pain on her cheek, trying to figure out a way to get out of this.

The man slammed her against the wall again. "I said be quiet!"

She felt one of his arms leave her body, and heard a noise as though he were reaching into something, like his pants, or a jacket.

She cried out as she felt the cool, sharp blade of a knife touch her neck. She was starting to think she wasn't going to get out of this alive.

"Where are they!" the man demanded, shaking her a bit with his other hand.

Elysia tried to hold back her tears as she asked confusedly, "Where's what?"

The man slammed her again and pushed the knife harder into her neck. "You know what I'm talking about! Where are the tapes! And the pictures!" He pushed her again.

Elysia held back her screams of pain as well as she could, and shook her head, the tears spilling out. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The man snarled angrily and harshly pulled her off of the wall, swinging her around so that she was facing the living room. He wrapped his arm around her tightly and placed the knife back on her neck. "Tell me where they are!" he shouted again, pressing the knife harder.

She cried some more, not knowing what he was talking about, but desperately searching the farthest reaches of her mind, trying to remember, something, _anything_, that would get him off of her.

"Damn it! You're useless!" he yelled.  
She closed her eyes tearfully, frantically thinking of something to do. She waited for him to do what he wanted, holding back her sobs.

Instead, she heard the man grunt, almost as if he were in pain. She opened her eyes in time to see Theo, who was standing on the other side of the couch in the living room, throw a knife at the man holding her.

She flinched as she not only felt and heard the knife go through the man's body, but because the man's grip on the knife had loosened and his hand fell, still managing to cut her neck.

She struggled to catch her breath as she fell with the man to the floor, hitting it pretty hard. She quickly wrestled herself out of his grasp and crawled away from him, staring at his body in shock.

Theo had managed to get one knife in the man's throat and the other right in his chest. The blood was already pouring out on the carpet.

As she struggled to take in what just happned, Theo rushed over to her side and bent down to pick her up. "Are you okay! Did he hurt you!" he asked worriedly.

Elysia just continued to stare at the man's body on the floor. _He was just alive a second ago... I.. How did... Is he really dead? Did Theo just kill someone?... Theo... killed... _

Theo then noticed the cut on her neck. His breath drew in sharply and he reached out to her. "Oh, Elysia... You're bleeding..." He looked at her, upset that he didn't help her in time.

Elysia slowly looked down to her shirt where she saw her own blood dripping on it. She looked up at Theo's face, concern and pain etched in his eyes, and frowned slightly. "I-I... what do we do now?"

Theo stared at her confusedly, not getting how she was acting. Was she in shock?

He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her away from the man's body. "I'm going to go call the police right now. I'll go get you a wet towel for your neck, so you sit here and..." He trailed off when he realized that she'd be staring at the man if she sat on the couch.

He glanced around, distraught and not knowing how to handle this. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, dialling 911 as he put an arm protectively around Elysia's shoulder and steered her away from the person he killed, having her face something less tramuatic.

He sighed as a dispatcher answered the phone. He looked down as he began talking.

"Hello?... Yeah, I'd like to report a robbery and... murder..."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"Shane, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't put the baby on the bed and then leave him alone!" Jade grabbed her pride and joy off the bed she shared with her husband of eight months and stomped out of the room towards the kitchen.

Shane had just grabbed a piece of reheated pizza out of the microwave and taken a big bite out of it. He watched as Jade walked closer to him in what he assumed was her "threatening" walk and gave a shrug. "I don't really keep track of things like that," he answered unperturbedly, crumbs flying out of his mouth as he continued to chew.

Jade let out a growl of frustration and fixed on Shane one of her worse glares. "Shane," she said an ominous, but calm voice," do you not care for the life of our firstborn child?"

Shane studied her expression for a while, secretly amused by her behavior, and gave a second shrug. "Yeah, I guess I care for the lil' bugger." He bent over a bit to get to his son's level and inched a bit closer to where he was being held by Jade. Shane waved at him and made faces, hoping his son would laugh like he always did. "Huh, Brandon? Doesn't daddy care about you?"

Right on cue, Brandon giggled and clapped his hands.

Shane looked up to Jade, smiling, and pointed to the baby. "See? He knows I love him sometimes."

Jade rolled her eyes and lifted the baby higher to get him out of Shane's eyesight. "That's not the point I was trying to make, Maxwell." She brushed back a strand of her ebony hair from her face that Brandon was pulling on and shifted her weight to her other leg. "I was trying to tell you that if you love your son like you say you do, then you wouldn't be leaving him in dangerous places."

Shane blinked and then raised an eyebrow. "What's so dangerous about our bed?"

Jade gave another cry of anger, this one tinged with annoyance, and turned around towards the nearby couch. "Our bed, in case you haven't noticed, is three feet high off the ground."

Shane stared at her blankly. "So?" he asked.

Jade set Brandon down on the floor, nestling him between two couch cushions, and walked back over to Shane. "So?" she repeated back at him angrily. "_So_, our son can fall off the bed and cause serious harm to his tiny little body!"

Shane shook his head and took another bite of his pizza. "Honey, we have a king sized bed. It's impossible for the baby to just go and roll off the edge. He's got a good couple of feet to go." He shoved the rest of the pizza slice into his mouth, chewing noisily.

Jade looked at him, disgusted, and put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "No, Shane. He can always crawl on over that way."

Shane frowned and looked to Brandon, who was happily chewing on his hand, still snuggled in the two cushions. "Brandon can't even hold himself up yet. How the hell is he going to crawl off the bed?"

Jade narrowed her eyes at Shane. "He..." She paused, when she couldn't think of something. "I mean... " She stepped back, slowly realizing that he was right, but not wanting to admit it. She looked to Shane and motioned around lamely with her hands. "Well, _eventually_-"

Shane raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for her to give up. "Jade, just say it."

Jade sighed in defeat and walked out. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You win. Just... don't do it again."

Shane walked over to the couch and jumped over it, landing nicely in a sitting position. "Sure, hon. I won't." He reached down and picked up Brandon. "Right, kiddo?"

Brandon gurgled back.

Shane smiled, and then looked back up to Jade as she walked back into the room. "Forget something?"

Jade stared at him expectantly. "How long have you known?"

Shane frowned in confusion and raised his hands up. "Known what?"

Jade raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "You know what I'm talking about."

Shane stared at her blankly, still not catching what she was implying. "Um... no. What is it we're talking about?" He looked to his fingers and licked off some sauce that had gotten on them, silently enjoying the look of horror on Jade's face from his eating habits.

She sighed and walked back into their room, and returned a few minutes later with a basket in her hands. Inside was an assortment of baby items, rattles, bibs, towels, and other newborn neccessities. She raised it at him, expectantly.

Shane merely shrugged and looked back to Brandon, who still hadn't moved from his spot. "Oh, _that_." He leaned down to pick his son up and cradled him in his arms, Brandon starting to close his eyes sleepily. "Yeah, I read it on Elysia's charts."

Jade's jaw dropped and she stared at him in shock, more from her not even thinking to cover that part up, than him accidentally finding out from doing his job investigating. "I... you..." Her eyes widened some more when a thought hit her. "You didn't tell anybody else, did you?"

Shane shrugged again as he gazed lovingly at his now sleeping child. This was really starting to be amusing. "Of course not. It's not my business to tell." He stood up to walk Brandon over to his room to lay him down in his crib. "Although, I was pretty close to spilling the beans during the interview." He glanced back at Jade from the hallway. "Good thing I caught myself beforehand. That would have been a sucky situation." He turned and continued on his way.

Jade rolled her eyes as she walked over to the couch, leaning down to pick up the couch cushions. "Among many other things." She shook them a little and patted them down, and then set them neatly back onto the couch. She watched the hallway entryway for Shane. "But you know what you have to do now, right?" she called out to him.

"What?" he shouted back.

She put her hands on her hips, irritated by his shouting, wondering how on earth and the colonies that the baby was still asleep after that. "You're not going to say another word about it to anybody."

Shane poked his head in the doorway for a quick second," Why would I do that?" He then ducked back, Jade assuming he was back in Brandon's room.

"Because you're Shane Maxwell, biggest mouth of the universe," she replied back.

Shane, not missing a beat, said back," That's not the only big thing I've got."

Jade closed her eyes in annoyance and shook her head. "You really are full of yourself, you know that?"

Shane returned and stopped in he doorway, leaning against the frame. "So I've been told my entire life." He watched her, amused, for a few minutes, before losing his smile. He looked her in her crystal blue eyes and sighed. "This is going to be a lot harder now."

Jade frowned confusedly. "What? The situation with Elysia?"

Shane nodded. "It's one thing to protect her. It's a whole other issue when you put a fetus into play." He looked down at the floor, kicking it with his foot absentmindedly. "I'm worried that we're not going to be able to ... That... " He looked up again. "That somewhere along the line, she's not going to make it... Because of all this bullshit going on."

What was left of Jade's anger melted away when she saw the worry and fear in her husband's eyes. She reached out her arms to him as she walked over. "Don't worry about that, right now, babe. There's nothing happening right now to cause us to freak out. Everything's fine. We just have to figure out the whole New Year's Party thing... After that, we're good. We'll have the bad guys."

Shane smiled as they hugged, falling in love with her all over again. Jade always knew the right things to say to him. He pulled back to look at her and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Thanks, hon."

Jade nodded slightly as she hugged him tighter.

The moment between the two lasted for a mere twenty seconds, before the harsh ringing of Shane's cell phone caused the to jump and interrupted them.

He sighed and pulled away regretfully, reaching into his pocket, disgruntled. He frowned as he saw Heero's house number flass on the outside screen. He flipped open his phone, being sure to pull on Jade's hand, so that she couldn't take off and leave him hanging. He still wanted to at least hold her.

"Hello?" he asked, wondering why Heero would be calling. _I thought he had work tonight... Why's he calling me and so late?_

"Shane," Theo's tired voice replied back.

Shane frowned even more as his memory kicked in and he remembered that Theo was the one who was supposed to take Elysia home from the hospital. "Yeah, waht's up?"

"I'm going to need you to come over here right away." Theo didn't sound too happy.

Shane frowned, disturbed by Theo's voice. "Why? What's going on? Did something happen?"

Jade watched the expression on Shane's face as Theo filled him in. She suddenly felt worse, becuase of her just reassuring Shane that everything was okay. Clearly, that had changed.

As Shane finished off the conversation, she pulled away and wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes never leaving his face. _This was all we needed right now... Damn it.. Just as things were getting a bit more tolerable..._

Shane hung up his phone, looking to Jade exasperatedly. He shoved the cell phone back into his pocket as he said, "Apparently, Heero's apartment was in the process of being robbed when Elysia got home."

Jade's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, my god... Are they okay?"

Shane gave a shrug. "Theo really didn't get too far into detail.At any rate-," he turned to his right towards the front door. "I guess I'll have to get going now." He walked over to the closet by the doorway to grab a jacket.

Jade made a face as she turned to watch him. "Shane, I... " She stopped, not knowing what to say to him. What could she say? She had just made herself out to be a liar.

Shane seemed to catch how she was feeling and walked over to her quickly, leaning down to kiss her again, this time on the lips. "Don't let it get to you, babe. You didn't know. And technically you were right for a while there." He swung his jacket behind him as he put it on. "I'll call you to let you know when I'm on my way home, all right?"

Jade crossed her arms and nodded, watching as Shane walked to the front door, grabbing his key sthat were hanging on a nail next to it. "Be careful, Shane."

He waved a hand at her reassuringly as he walked out. "When am I not careful?"

Jade couldn't resist saying something back, especially since it'd lighten the mood some. "When you're taking care of our son an putting him on our bed unattended."

She smiled a bit as she heard him laugh, before the door shut, cutting him off. At least she got him to do that much. She stood silently for a few more minutes, before letting out a big sigh. There was nothing more she could do for the night. But now she was alone.

She glanced back to the hallway, and then remembered that the baby had just went to sleep. She wouldn't have to sleep alone tonight. She'd just take the baby out of the crib and snuggle with him. She just couldn't lay in that big bed by herself.

She went to lock the front door and then wandered to Brandon's room.

_Please, Shane, stay alive. We need you at home. I don't know what I'd do without you here by my side.  
_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Jennifer was practically beating herself up. She hadn't thought to go to the hospital first. It didn't occur to her that Elysia might still be there.

Of course, halfway to the nearest hospital, she realized that she had no clue where Elysia might be at. She hadn't watched enough of the new report to know. Or couldn't remember. At any rate, she wasted 20 minutes driving.

Now, she was on her way to Heero's apartment. She figured that someone had to be home, and if not, she would just go to Theo's place. She had to go see Elysia and make sure everything was okay. She bit back the feeling of resentment that nobody thought to call her at all the whole day to let her know what had happened. But she decided to let it slide, since they may have just assumed she would find out by waching the t.v., or by someone else calling,

She tapped her steering wheel impatiently at each red light she came to. She didn't understand why she was so anxious, but shrugged it off anyways. It was just an adrenaline rush from the news report.

As she came closer to the apartment complex that Heero and Elysia lived at, she noticed flashing red and blue lights. She frowned in confusion as she slowly pulled to a stop behind a couple of parked police cars. She turned her engine off and quickly got out, hoping that this whole mess had nothing to do with Heero or Elysia.

"Excuse me, officer?" she said loudly to the neaerst policeman she saw, having to shout above the noise.

The officer glanced at her and looked away, waving a hand dismissively at her. "You need to get back in your car, miss, and go home. There's nothing for you to see here."

Jennifer made a face and walked over to him. "I'm sorry, _sir_, but my friend lives in that apartment complex, and I'm just wondering if... well, nothing happened, right?"

The officer didn't even look at her as he continued to stand in place, looking to be doing absolutely nothing. "I can't release any information to you on this matter. Now, please leave, and have your friend call you tomorrow."

Jennifer glared at the officer and crossed her arms angrily. "Look, I just need to know-"

"And I just need you to leave." The officer turned to face her now and glared right back.

Jennifer stood her ground, not at all threatened by the short, heavy-set man. She raised an eyebrow at him and prepared to argue some more, when a familiar voice called out,"Jen! What's going on?"

Jennifer turned to the side and saw Caterina running over, Jacob lagging behind her. She looked to Jennfier worriedly as she drew close and pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

Jennifer shrugged and motioned to the officer." I don't know I just got here and nobody's telling me what happened..." She paused when she realized this was the first time she'd seen or talked to anybody since New Year's Eve. She shivered as her body suddenly acknowledged it was cold outside. "Why are you guys here?"

Caterina pointed lamely to Jacob. "It was his day off, but he wanted to stop by and make sure Elysia got home safe." She glanced around at the mass array of rescue crews and sighed dejectedly. "It appears we were wrong... It's going to be the last day off he has in a while." She looked down a bit at that last part.

_Did Caterina just look upset?_

Jennnifer didn't know what to make of this and looked away.This was when she saw Theo coming down one of the apartments complex's walkways, his arm around Elysia, who had a blanket thrown over her shoulders and was holding something on her neck. They were flanked by two officers, who were obviously escorting them.

Jennifer took a couple of steps in their direction, waving to get their attention. "Theo! What happened?" She ran over to them, as Elysia was taken to a nearby ambulance, Theo stopping and standing still.

He looked to Jennifer confusedly as she stopped in front of him to catch her breath. "What are you doing here, Jen? Did someone tell you-"

Jennifer shook her head quickly. " I just found out about what happend at the party, and I was on my way to see if everything was okay. And then I see the police and eveything, and I got worried..." She looked to Elysia, who was being examined by a paramedic. "Whar happened?"

Theo sighed and shoved his hands in his pocket, in an attempt to keep them warm. "The apartment was robbed. Elysia went in, unaware that the robber was still in there. She tried to get away, but he attacked her..." He let out another long sigh and looked down. "I managed to get there in time to save her."

Jennifer tried to take this in calmly, as she looked at Theo in shock. "What happened to the robber?"

He motioned to a pair of paramedics, who were just coming down the walkway, wheeling a gurney that had someone on top of it, but a white sheet pulled over. Jennifer stared at the sheet covered body and tried to ignore the fear that had risen in her body. She glanced to Theo worriedly, at a loss for words.

He merely nodded, seeming to understand her reaction. "I know... Elyisa's more shaken up by the fact that I killed someone, than her almost getting killed..." He looked Jennifer in the eyes as he said with a dark overtone," I had to... It was either him or her... I wasn't about to let someone hurt her."

Jennifer tried to hold back the bit of tears that sprang up at her almost brother's words. "Oh, Theo... What are you going to do now?"

Before he could say anything, Jacob and Caterina came walking up. Jacob looked to Theo, seeming to be angry. "What happened, Barton?"

As Theo explained the situation to Jacob, Jennifer turned her attention to Elusia, who was still sitting in the ambulance. It appeared that the paramedics were giving her stitches. But she seemed unfazed by the needle going in and out of her neck. She was staring blankly out towards Theo.

Jennifer couldn't imagine what Elysia was going through at the moment. It was almost as if the torture at the orphanage was just a warm-up for what was in store for Elysia. Who could be doing such awful things to her?

Jennifer was stirred from her reverie as she heard Heero yelling out for Elysia. She looked over in time to see him running up to the group, Shane appearing out of nowhere behind him.

As they joined the group, Jennifer noticed Caterina standing off to the side, almost in her own world. She watched her silently, not knowing what to make of her longtime friend's actions.She was really acting weird lately. What was going on with her?

Jennifer crossed her arms, the cold getting to her even more, and turned back into the conversation at hand.

Jacob was now finishing off explaining to Heero and Shane what was going on. "...It appears that these guys aren't holding back."

The four men nodded their agreement and shuffled uncomfortably.

Shane looked up to Theo as he kicked the pavement with his steel toed boots. "All right, you know what this means now." He looked to Heero for backup as he added," Elysia's going to have to stay at Theo's place for a while, until you find a new place to stay."

Theo looked up quickly, about to object, when he hesitated, and then shook his head. "Yeah.. Sure, " he mumbled. He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced away at Elysia.

Shane raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there a problem, Theo?"

Theo looked back and shook his head quickly. "No... No problem."

Jennifer frowned, as Theo was obviously lying. _Why is he objecting to Elysia staying with him? That's not like him at all. _

Shane coninuted on with his plan," Jacob, you already know your mission status. I suggest you pack your things and get ready to move in."

Jacob nodded his agreement. "I'm already planning to have Cat take some of my stuff over while I' m with Elysia."

Caterina heard this part and broke her unusual silence. "What? I didn't know about this."

Jacob let out a breath slowly as he looked to Caterina. "Sweetie, I have to stay with Elysia at all times. You know that. I need you to do me a favor and get my things. I can't leave her side at all."

Caterina, surprisingly, said nothing more. She looked away, and crossed her arms. "What about the car, Jacob? Are you driving it to the hospital?"

Jacob shook his head. "No, you drive it back to Jennifer's house and stay there with her. I don't want you alone at all. You'll be safe at her place."

Caterina obviously didn't like his answer, but said nothing else.

Jacob looked to Shane. "I'm going to go over to be with Elysia now, all right?"

Shane nodded and continued discussing the artinerary for the night.

Jacob walked away, hugging Caterina as he walked by her, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Be careful... I love you," he said softly, as he left.

Jennifer noticed Caterina's expression as he did this. It was almost as if she was...

She looked away, not wanting to get too involved with the other's lives. She just wanted to go home and sleep now.

Shane was still talking. "Heero, you're going to have to stay here with Theo and talk with the police. You're going to have to fill out a report, as well as list what was taken. Theo has to give his statement. Then you guys can go back to the hospital."

"What about you?" Theo asked.

Shane shrugged and smiled a bit. "Well, I get to have the fun of looking over all the reports and crime scene and stay up all night, trying to determine what happened here, why, and who did it." He ran a hand through his slightly long brown hair, looking away. "Hopefuly, that guy Dorothy caught earlier today may give us some more information."

He looked around at everybody and clapped his hands together loudly, causing the majority of them to jump. "Well! Let's get going, guys!" He walked away and began a conversation with a nearby police officer.

Heero and Theo followed suit and walked away together to talk to Elysia before the ambulance took her away.

Jennifer watched everybody silently and looked to Caterina, who was still eerily quiet. "Cat?"

Caterina looked to Jennifer, and wiped her eyes quickly. "Yeah, I know. Let's get going, before someone sees us and decides to follow us home."

She puuled out a set of keys and walked away quickly to where she and Jacob had parked his car.  
Jennifer tried to hold in her surprise at seeing Caterina cry and walked over to her car. _What's wrong with her? And Theo? Why are they acting so ...different?_

She shook her head and tried to ignore it. Now was not the time for family drama.

She opened her car door and got inside. She waited for Caterina to signal she was ready to leave, and then turned on her car, backing away from the mess around the apartment.

It appeared that she'd missed out on more than just a simple party.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	7. More Trouble

_**A Daugher's Will**_

**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.

** A/N: **As a reward for all of you who had to wait, here's a SECOND chapter for you to read. Yay. :D Now, just R&R and you'll be seeing more of these. Bye for now!

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Caterina wandered the busy streets of the business district in the Sank kingdom sadly, a bit depressed from the previous night's events. She'd spent the entire night at Jennifer's place, not quite getting any sleep out of fear of what may happen to her or Jacob on his way to the hospital. She had spent the night on one of Jennifer's old armchairs, not wanting to sleep on the floor. Jennifer had slept a few feet away on her couch, both girls afraid to sleep in any room in the large house alone. She hated how she sat in Jennifer's living room, jumping at every creak and random noise that happened. The wind blowing and the occasional plane flying over didn't help. The noise was unbearably loud in the middle of the forest area where Jennifer's house was located..

It was getting to be a hard week, and it was starting to become clear that the rest of the year wasn't going to go well. It was already off to a bad start, and she was afraid it'd get worse.

She swung her expensive designer purse lazily as she walked along, not really caring anymore if she ruined her nice stuff.

_What's the point? It's going to fall apart at some point anyways. And it's not going to help me with my life's problems._

She looked up at the sky, the towering buildings blocking most of her view. She sighed, feeling a sense of helplessness. It really felt like she'd hit rock bottom.

She understood Jacob's positon, his job. She got that he was obligated to watch Elysia. It wasn't a matter of babysitting. Her life was in jeopardy, and it was apparent that whoever was after her, was shady and dangerous.

She got that his job came first, and that everything he did was for the good of the world. That and it was pretty much the way he paid for things.

But she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of Elysia. And of the rest of her bridal party. Most of her bridesmaids were either happilly married, or were in deep, fulfilling relationhsips. It bothered her that she couldn't have a normal relationship with Jacob, like everybody else did.

He was her fiance, but it felt like he was just a elementary school crush. She knew he loved her, but there were times, like when he was off on his missions for weeks at a time, when she doubted it. It was hard to stand by and watch him leave, knowing that each mission may be his last, while she then in turn continued to plan their wedding as if nothing was wrong.

And the whole situation with Elysia... It wasn't enough that Caterina was already a bit fearful of getting caught in any of the riots, or random acts of violence by the protesters. Now she had to deal with the knowledge that someone was out to hurt the former pilots or their families. Just hearing that her mother was attacked in her own office, was enough for Caterina to just want to go run away and hide out in a cave somewhere. She didn't want to have to worry about her parents any more than she already was. She didn't want to have to think about her loved ones dying or...

It was starting to be too much for her. She was beginning to think she couldn't handle all the pressure.

She sighed again as she passed a newpaper stand, wondering what on earth and the colonies she was going to do to get out of this rut.

She took a couple more steps, before pausing, as she processed what she just saw on the front pages of all of the newpapers at the stand.

She walked back to get a better look, hoping against hope that she was just seeing things.

Her eyes widened at the mass display in front of her and what she really _was_ seeing. She grabbed the first paper she saw and read the headlines and everything else on the front.

She then let out the loudest shriek she'd ever done in her life, one that rivaled even her childhood days.

Why did she always have to be punished in her life?

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"So, Jacob's planning a surprise for Cat, but hasn't told you what it is?" Elizabeth asked Jennifer, her soft voice ringing with her confusion.

Jennifer gave a little laugh and nodded, as the pair walked down one of the sidewalks of the Sank Kingdom Plaza. "I'm almost afraid to ask him, after I finish this task for him."

Elizabeth tapped her chin thoughtfully with her pointer finger. "Well, it's kind of odd for him to ask you to find Caterina's wedding dress for her."

Jennifer nodded some more in agreement. "Yeah, I thought so too. I'm trying to figure out what he's planning, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to do a few more errands for him, in order to get more pieces to the puzzle." She smirked at she wondered what else Jacob had in store for her. "Of course, considering he's not planning anything crazy or weird. Otherwise, I'll never get what it is."

Elizabeth shrugged. "I bet it's a surprise wedding!"

Jennifer frowned slightly and looked to Elizabeth in shock. "Nah! Why would he do that? He knows how much work Caterina's put into planning the wedding. Why would he take away the satisfaction?... I think he just wants to get her her dream dress and.. like... " She motioned around with her hands."A nice fancy honeymoon, or something..." She trailed off, realizing how lame she probably sounded. There was really no rational idea as to what Jacob was planning for Caterina.

She stopped walking when she saw that they had made it to the dress shop she'd wanted to go into. "Ah! Here we are!"

Elizabeth giggled as she opened the door. "I wonder what Caterina likes, and if we'll even find it here?"

Jennifer looked down to her purse as her phone began to ring. She recognized the ringtone and smiled at Elizabeth. "Speak of the devil..." She fished her cell phone out of her small pink bag and flipped it open. "Hey, Cat! What are you up to?"

"Jen! Have you seen today's papers yet!" Caterina's voice screamed.

Jennifer flinched a little as she pulled the phone a couple inches away from her ear. "No, why? Is there something I'm supposed to see?"

She looked to Elizabeth, who was still standing in the shop's doorway, questioningly and mouthed the word "newspaper". Elizabeth shrugged and shook her head.

"If there wasn't anything for you to look at, then why would I call you!"

Jennifer made a face, not knowing what to say to that. "Well, what's wrong?"

She turned towards the street and froze when she saw Caterina turn a nearby corner a couple shops away.She turned around quickly and motioned for Elizabeth to get inside the store.

When Elizabeth stared at her confusedly, she pointed to Caterina, who was so busy with her phone, that she hadn't noticed the two girls.

They ran in the store and went towards the back to hide, hoping that Caterina hadn't seen them.

Caterina, in the meantime, had answered Jennifer's question, a bit hysterically. "What's wrong! What's _wrong?_ I can't even begin to tell you what's wrong! The best thing I can say is for you to grab the nearest paper and see for yourself!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes and glanced around the shop. She noticed a stack of newspapers on a chair by the dressing rooms. "Hold on, while I go find a place to buy one..." She snapped her fingers at Elizabeth to get her attention, and then motioned at the papers.

Elizabeth nodded and quickly got the newpapers for her. She handed it to Jennifer, before grabbing a copy for herself. She sat down in another chair and glanced at the front page. Her eyes widened in shock, as Jennifer saw for herself what all the fuss was about. "Oh, my..."

"Do you see!" Caterina shrieked.

Jennifer nodded, despite the fact that Caterina couldn't see her. "Oh, no, Cat..."

The front page of the Sank Kingdom Daily News blared the headline "Winner daughter caught in another sex scandal!".

Underneath the headline was a picture of Caterina wrapped in just a bedsheet, Jacob next to her, and what appeared to be the blurred images of...

"Cat, was this last year when... ?" Jennifer looked up from the horrible image in time to see Caterina on her way to walk in the shop. She panicked as she didn't want Caterina to see them and ask questions, and ran to the dressing rooms, yanking and dragging Elizabeth with her. She dove into the first dressing room on her right and pressed herself into the corner, praying she hadn't been seen.

All she had to do was talk low on the phone, so that Caterina didn't hear her.

"It looks like it, Jen." Caterina had answered sadly. "I don't even know how they got on his property and saw this... But now... As if the thing with my mom isn't bad enough, but they have to overshadow her attack with _this_ and..." She trailed off, worry in her voice.

Jennifer watched as Elizabeth peeked out from behind the curtain to see where Caterina was at. She looked back at Jennifer and shook her head and motioned for her to come take a look.

Jennifer slowly got up and walked over, wondering what Caterina was doing. "Cat, this means that people could've seen Elysia... That's not good."

She frowned when she saw Caterina looking at the dresses in the front of the shop, fingering the lacy material half heartedly. "I know.. I wonder..." She trailed off and suddenly got quiet.

Jennifer frowned some more and took another peek from behind the curtain. "Cat? Are you okay?"

She saw Caterina seeming to be frozen in place, staring at something on the wall. Jennifer leaned out a bit to see what it was she was looking at.

"Jen... I'm going to have to call you back.." Caterina said slowly. She hung up the phone before Jennifer could say anything and reached up to touch a dress that was hanging on the wall.

Jennifer stared in confusioin, and closed her phone, wondering what got Caterina to be so quiet.

A saleswoman walked over to Caterina, asking rather loudly, "See something you like, miss?"

Caterina turned around slowly to face the woman and said, somewhat in awe," Um... yeah... Do you have this in my size?" She pulled the dress off the wall and gently handed it to the saleswoman as if it were a fragile ancient artifact.

The saleswoman examined the dress and asked, "What's your dress size?"

"Six," Caterina answered.

The saleswoman looked to the tag on the dress and smiled. "Well, it appears that this one _is_ a six. And I believe it's the last one in this style." She smiled at Caterina. "Would you like to try it on?"

Jennifer and Elizabeth watched as Caterina hesitated. They looked at each other in confusion, not believing her behavior.

The saleswoman didn't wait for answer and began to usher Caterina to the back. "Come, now, you _must_ try it on!"

Jennifer and Elizabeth watched in shock as Caterina allowed herself to be pushed towards the back. Then they remembered that they weren't supposed to be seen, and quickly ducked back behind the curtain.

They listened nervously as the salewoman lead Caterina to the back.

"Now, you don't have to _buy_ it. You're just trying it on."

Caterina merely said a," Mmhmm."

The saleswoman went on. "Here, now, let me help you get out of those clothes...:

There was a bit of rustling and some grunting on the saleswoman's part.

After a long silence, the woman was heard shouting, "Aha! How lovely! Just beautiful, I'm telling you! Beautiful!"

Jennifer and Elizabeth couldn't hold back their curiosity and peeked out a bit from behind the curtains. Their breaths drew in sharply at the sight of Caterina.

The dress she had chosen was a slinky silk, light cream colored lace dress. The top was cut sweetheart style, two lace straps reaching across her shoulders and onto the back. The bottom flowed out ever so slowly past her waist and trailed on the floor as if it were water. Here or there was a bead that sparkled in the light. It _was_ a beautiful dress, and on Caterina...

Caterina had been admiring herself in the dressing room mirrors, smiling to herself happily. She turned this way and that, looking at the dress, surprisingly, and not herself, from all angles.

Suddenly, her face fell, and she looked down. She shook her head and looked up to the saleswoman, "I'm sorry.. I can't.. I need to go.."

She quickly gathered up her clothes and went to take the dress off.

Jennifer and Elizabeth jumped back behind the curtains, before she could catch a glimpse of them. They sat down on the installed benches in the small room and looked to each other confusedly.

They both had never seen Caterina act like this before. It was almost as if she were another person. Where was the strong and confident girl they were used to?

They heard the saleswoman protest a bit as Caterina walked out quickly from the dressing room, the jingle of the little bells on the top of the door, signaling her exit.

They glanced to each other, and then opened the little curtain to the room, peering out to the front of the shop.

The saleswoman was shaking out the dress and just about ready to put it on back on the hanger.

Jennifer looked back to Elizabeth next to her and smiled. Despite what had just unusally happened, Caterina had done them a favor.

Elizabeth stared at her, not sure what Jennifer was smiling about. "What?" she asked, still having quite not gotten over Caterina's reaction to the dress

Jennifer stepped out of the room, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Don't you see?"

Elizabeth followed confusedly, crossing her arms over her small chest. "No..."

Jennifer shrugged this off and walked over to the saleswoman. "Excuse me, ma'am? I'd like to buy that dress!"

The saleswoman jumped at Jennifer's voice, apparently never noticing that she and Elizabeth were in the shop too, and looked to her in surprise. "You mean this dress?" she asked, lifting up the hanger she was holding.

Jennfier nodded. "Mmhmm. Yep. That's the one!"

The woman glanced to Jennifer, and then the dress, and back to Jennifer, seeming to find it a bit of a dilemma. Obviously, she wanted to make a sale, but she was torn, because of how she'd seen Caterina's love for the dress.

Jennifer saw this right away as she walked closer to the woman and waved her hand at her. "Oh, no. It's not what you think." She motioned to Elizabeth behind her. "You see, we're doing a favor for that girl's soon to be husband. And... well, it'd be really good for us to get her _this_ dress, since.. well, you saw how she was."

Elizabeth merely nodded in agreement with Jennifer, as the saleswoman looked to the two of them, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"And how do I know this is true? I mean, even though I can't find any other reason for you to purchase this dress, outside of being a cruel person, I still find your story hard to believe." The woman crossed her arms and waited.

Jennifer didn't even blink as she replied, "That girl was Caterina Winner. You know, the one who's about to marry Jacob Peacecraft. She's been so busy planning her wedding that she never got her wedding dress. By chance, we came here just as she did and happen to see her admiring this dress. Obviously she liked it, so we thought we'd get it for her, since she just took off."

The woman stared at the two silently for a couple minutes, and then shook her head. "That couldn't have been a Winner. Why would she be in my little shop of all places? She could fly to Paris, or Milan for the best of the best wedding gowns!"

Jennifer opened her mouth to say something, then closed it when she realized she didn't have anything to say. She looked up thoughtfully and crossed her arms. "You know, that's a really good question." She turned to Elizabeth. "Why _did_ Caterina come in here?"

Elizabeth shrugged this off as she walked closer to the woman. "Beats me... At any rate," she handed the woman the newspaper they had read earlier. "If you look at that picture, I think you can see that we're telling the truth."

The woman glanced down at the paper, her eyes skimming over the words. She covered her mouth in shock as she got to the picture. "Oh, my..." she gasped as she looked up at Jennifer and Elizabeth.

Jennifer smirked in satisfaction, proud of Elizabeth's quick thinking, and gestured to the dress in the woman's hands. "So, do we have a deal?"

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Elysia let out a sigh and looked down to her lap as she sat in her newest hospital bed, waiting for word on what to do next. Her neck was bandaged, and a bit sore, the long thin cut on her neck not life threatening, since it wasn't deep enough to have done any damage. She was told that there'd be no scarring, but she highly doubted that. She'd been beaten enough in the orphanage to know what would stay and what wouldn't.

She thought back to the night before, when she had been sitting in the ambulance as the paramedics stitched up her neck. They had been the ones to tell her she was lucky the knife hadn't gone any deeper and that she'd be okay.

Physically anyways. Her mental health was the thing in question. Not to her, though. She felt fine. Shaken up a bit, yeah, but not ... Not like how her father and everbody else thought she'd be like. Or _was_. Apparently her silence was a sign of mass tramua or something.

She just didn't want to talk about the situation, nor accidentally let it slip that she was carrying a baby. Oh, the pandemonium that would erupt if that came out. It was bad enough just with everybody smothering her right now. If they knew about the baby, things would be so much more harder to do. She was pretty sure she couldn't even go to work at the orphanage without having someone walking her in, holding her hand.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate their concerns and worries. She understood why her father, the other pilots, her uncle, Jacob, and Theo were getting overprotective of her. It was a tough situation, considering the circumstances, but she felt they were overdoing it.

Nobody knew who she was, nor that she even existed. The orphanage didn't even have her in their database. She honestly felt that the New Year's Party was an accident. Well, in her case, that is.

And the robbery was just an unusual coincidence. The man was asking her for something, as if she knew what he was talking about. It had to have been another case of mistaken identity.

She was irritated by all the drama going on. It was all just a bunch of coincidences and accidents. She was perfectly fine and safe. She was getting sick of all the attention and the worry and not being able to go somewhere as simple as the bathroom without someone following two inches behind.

Since the orphanage, she'd been independent. It was the one decent thing she'd learn from the place. Being the only girl for a long time, as well as being isolated from the rest of the children taught her to rely on nobody else but herself. She'd gotten by well, doing things on her own terms and time. She didn't really have to worry about anything much, outside of the torture the other kids and nuns did to her.

And now she was having to rely on not only her father, but just about every other male she knew, plus Jade. It was something she was just not getting quite a firm grasp on.

She looked to the side of her bed to Jacob, who hadn't moved from his seat. He looked so stern and serious, like the old statues the Sank Kingdom had of her ancestors. His arms never uncrossed themselves, nor did his gaze never quite leave her. It was a bit unnerving, coupled with his silence.

She hadn't known what to do in this long awkward moment, as she didn't want to set him off, or do something she wasn't supposed to.

But now she wondered...

"How long are you going to stay there?" she asked, breaking the fairly tense silence.

"As long as I need to," he answered, short and crisp, like the solider his father raised him to be.

Elysia made a face and moved in her bed to get a better look at him. "And how long will that be?"

His face seemed to stay perfectly still as he gazed intently into her eyes and answered," Until my mission is complete. And, hopefully, ends when my dad says so, and not when you're killed."

Elysia bit her lip, a bit taken aback from his answer. _Did he have to put it like that?_

She continued to look back at Jacob as his eyes watched her, He seeming to wait for more questions from her. She decided to keep them coming, since it appeared he'd have to deal with her 24/7. Might as well begin the torture as soon as possible."So, you're going to have to follow me everywhere I go?"

He gave a quick nod. "Yes."

She leaned forward in her bed. "Like when I go to work? Or sleep in my bed? Or even the bathroom?"

Jacob broke his statue pose and leaned forward as well, ticking his answers off on his fingers. "Yes, I'll be escorting you and hanging around about two feet from you, sort of, since your door will be open and I can just peek in, and I'll have to check the bathroom first before you enter, and then you do your thing, while I guard the outside, until you're done." He gave a smile that seemed to mock her.

Elysia, though unhappy with his answer, didn't let it get to her. She put on fake confusion and loked up thoughtfully."But what do I do when _you_ have to go the bathroom or take a shower or something? You can't honestly be near me every waking moment."

Jacob frowned at her and leaned in closer so that nobody else could hear him," Why are you asking me this? It's a huge risk for me to answer that here, since anybody could be listening. _Anybody_! Do you want you and your child to be hurt?"

Just as he said the last part, he jumped back, and covered his mouth, hoping she hadn't caught what he said, feeling like an idiot for letting it slip out.

No such luck.

Elysia was staring at him in shock, her mouth wide open. Her eyes were big and she was gasping for air. She pointed to him with her right hand as she sputtered out," H-h-how did you know! Who told you!"

Jacob, surprisingly, was acting just as shocked as she was. He kept his hands over his mouth and shook his head.

Elysia crawled over on her bed and practically lunged at her cousin. "Tell me!" she demanded, shaking him by the shoulders.

He brought his hands down and said to her fearfully," I r-read it on your ch-charts... Shane had given me them to read a-a-and... " He stopped when she took her hands off of him and stared at him terrified.

"Shane gave them to you! He knows!" She was shrieking now, out of complete horror.

Jacob nodded meekly, fearing his cousin for the first time.

Elysia stayed on her bed, stunned by the news. How could she had been so stupid as to think that this would remain a secret? Of course Shane would know, since he _was _the one in charge of the investigation. And Jacob would have found out eventually, since he was the one guarding her and would need to know her medical condition. And her father and the rest of the pilots as well as...

Her eyes widened even more as she looked to Jacob panickedly. "My father...? And _your_ father...? And... Theo!"

He nodded two times and then shook his head. "Everybody knows except him. We all felt it wasn't our place to say anything. We assumed you'd be the one willing to tell him. Jade had already informed us how you didn't even know until yesterday, and still hadn't mentioned it to him. So, we didn't say anything to him." He paused and waited for her to say more. He hadn't intended to stress her out more.

Elysia instead sank back into her bed, staring off blankly as she took this all in. "What am I going to do?" she mumbled to herself. "I... I really thought I'd have more time to think about this and what to do and... within a matter of hours, half of the people I know found out..." She looked up to Jacob quickly, her deep azure eyes flashing. "You'll say nothing to Theo about this! _Nothing_!"

Jacob nodded, moving his hands up and down, hoping to calm her. "Of, course. No problem." He actually inched his chair back as he said this, his cousin's intense gaze starting to freak him out.

She narrowed her eyes and said in a low tone," And nothing to Caterina, either!"

Jacob sat up in his chair and stared and stared at Elysia, a bit defensive. "Hey, why not? She should know like the rest of us."

Elysia shook her head. "She talks to Theo every week and is a bit bad at keeping secrets as we all know." Jacob opened his mouth to protest, but she cut him off. "Remember your engagement? And her Christmas present for you? And how she just couldn't resist telling us about your birthmark you-know-where, and what you told her on your two-month anniversary?"

Jacob frowned at the last part. "She told you that?"

Elysia nodded. "All of it, including that ridiculous love song." She crossed her arms triumphantly, as Jacob processed this.

He looked to her, a bit upset. "She... I..." He made a face. "Not even a hint?"

"Not a word!"

Before he could say more, the door to the room opened.

Jacob jumped up quickly, ready to attack, but softened his stance when he saw that it was only Heero. "Hello there, sir," he said, bowing.

Heero nodded slightly to him and walked over to Elysia. "We've got the plans and arrangements ready."

Jacob turned and sat back in his chair. "Oh? And they are...?"

Heero sat next to Elysia on her bed and gave her a hug before answering. "She'll be staying with Theo for the next couple of months, until I'm done packing our things and find a new apartment for us to stay. When that happens, we'll be slowy moving our stuff out. That way, if anybody is watching us, they won't see that we're leaving until the last day. If we sneak a couple of things in our cars every now and then, they won't catch on, until we're gone for good." He looked to Elysia and sighed. "You won't be able to leave Theo's place right away, though. We'll have to sneak you away. Probably take you out like a normal day and then take you somewhere where we can't be seen, and then have someone drive you to our new home... I really don't know how long this will take, so I have to be sure that you're okay with all of this."

Elysia gave a shrug and pulled her blanket up over her arms. "I really don't have a chioce."

Heero sighed and pulled her close. "I know, sweetie, but I had to make sure that you were okay with living with Theo for the next few months. Moving in with your boyfriend is such a big thing as it is, but you have the added weight of your life being in danger... It's going to be a tense time."

Elysia was about to shrug again when she realized what he said. She couldn't live with Theo right now. She hadn't told him about the baby and being right there with him every day...

She looked to Jacob, who had managed to read her expression and know what she was thinking. He smiled reassuringly and looked to Heero. "She's fine with that, uncle. I'm going to be around her all day, every day, so there won't be any problems. Nobody will be able to talk to her or even see her, if I have anything to do with it." He emphasised the last part for her, hoping she caught what he said.

She had, and nodded in agreement with him. She looked to Heero and gave a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine with that.

Heero smiled back and stood up. "Great. I'll go tell the guys and let them know the plans are underway. " He walked out the foor, closing it quietly behind him.

Elysia leaned back in her bed frustrtedly and looked to Jacob. "That's all I needed right now, Jakey."

He narrowed his eyes at her, even though he was smiling a bit. "Don't call me that."

Elysia snorted. "Get used to if. We have a whole three months together plus however much longer it takes until I'm free again." She crossed her arms and smiled evily at him. "I'm going to make your life a living hell."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Theo kicked a can away angrily as he wandered the factory grounds "watching" for intruders. It was nights like these that made him wonder why he left the circus. It was so damn slow and boring. He might as well have stayed at the hospital with Elysia. At least he'd be with someone he liked.

There was nobody else at the factory, except for him and a handful of other security guards. They were younger, more inexperienced, though. He wanted to beat the head guard for placing the rookies on the night shift. He hated pulling more than his own weight.Granted, nothing was happening tonight anyways. But the point was still there. He shouldn't have to be the factory's sole protector.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a man's gruff voice call out his name from somewhere behind him.

He turned around towards one of the exits in the factory to see his boss standing in the doorway.

He looked at him in surprise, wondering why the factory owner was there and so late at night. He usually left in the afternoon, came back for a few hours, and then left. This was a rare sight.

Theo gave a slight wave as he walked over to the owner, hoping that nothing was wrong. He would really hate himself if the owner did his job better than him and _knew_ it.

"Hey, there, sir," he said casually and respectfully, as he approached him. "What brings you here at this hour?"

The much older man smiled a bit, causing Theo to grow a tad wary, since he hardly did that, and motioned for Theo to walk inside. "C'mon, then. Get out of the cold, Barton. Snow's for penguins and polar bears, not humans."

Theo grew even more suspicious of the owner's actions, not understanding his unusually upbeat behavior.

He stepped inside and shook his jacket off a bit, dusting off what little snow had landed on him during his perimeter walk, as the owner shut the exit door.

"I want to have a word with you, my boy," he said as he stepped in front of Theo and began to walk down the hallway.

Theo stood still for a second as he tried to figure out what it was his boss could possibly want to tell him. He froze when he remembered the other night. Had the man in the car followed through on his threat?

The owner had noticed Theo wasn't behind him, and stopped, looking back at him. "Well, what are you doing just standing there, Barton? C'mon and walk with me. This won't take long. I promise."

Theo, not comforted by his words, nodded a little and started walking over towards the owner. "Sorry, sir. I was trying to get used to the heat. The transition from really cold to really hot threw me off." He was lying, as it was just as cold inside. The heaters had never been fixed, except for the upper floors, where, coincidentally, the owner and the executives' offices were. Any possible heat would have been from the owner's robust body and breath.

He didn't seem to notice, however, and nodded. Apparently his body temperature remained the same, wherever he went. "Ah, yes, how easily I forget where you just were. At any rate, come along. I want to let you know something important." Theo jogged a little to catch up to his boss, and steadied his pace next to the slightly shorter man. "Oh? What's going on? Nothing bad, I hope?"

He was lying again. If he could leave this job without having to quit or be fired, he'd be happy. Then he'd get some bonus cash for the factory closing down and the likes. Oh, what a wonderful day that'd be.

The owner gave a chuckle and shook his head. "Oh, no, Theo, nothing bad at all." He paused as they turned a corner. "I just wanted to discuss with you something. You see, an old business associate of mine is thinking of purchasing the factory. I've known him for many years. In fact, _he_ was the one who was originally set to own this place. But, he fell in a rut, and couldn't afford to pay. So, I offered to buy it for him and take care of it, while he went to get back on his feet. It's been a couple years, since that happened, but now..." He stopped again as they turned another corner, then continued," He's ready to make good on our deal. But the man's been kind enough to allow me to be co-owner. So, we'll be working together, as we had originally intended. He just needs to check out a few things here or there, fill out some forms and checks, and then he'll be hanging around here just as much as I am. But, he'll be here at night."

He stopped walking to look at Theo next to him, who was frowning in confusion. "We figured it'd be a good idea to have each other watching over the factory both day and night, in case something were to happen and either of us needed to be contacted." He studied Theo's expression, clearly getting why Theo had no clue where he was heading. He reached out and clapped Theo's shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "That's where you come in, my boy. You see, since I won't be here at night most of the time, as well as the rest of the staff, you're next in line to be in charge. So, you'll be needing to talk to him and interact on a daily, er, _nightly_ basis." His smiled widened a bit.

Theo, a bit unnerved, smiled back weakly. "Oh," was all he managed to say.

The owner snorted and turned away and began to walk again. " So, I'm letting you know ahead of time about this. You'll be meeting him when he's actually around to talk to. And, hopefully, after that, you two can start discussing the night routines and such." He turned another corner, with Theo trailing behind and stopped as they got to another exit from the building. He waited in front of it patiently as Theo caught up to him and reached out an arm to rest on the long handle. "So, what do ya' say? Ready to take on this new job?"

The just stood there and gave a shrug. "Yes, sir."

_Do I really have a choice?_

The owner smiled warmly at Theo as he opened the door, ignoring Theo's lack of enthusiasm. "Good to hear! I'll let him know how eager you are to meet him. Maybe that'll cause him to come over sooner." He stepped back to allow enough space between him and the doorway to allow Theo to walk through. "Back to work, my boy! Have fun chasing those penguins!"

Theo allowed himself a little laugh, so as not to offend his boss, and walked out the door. "Thank you, sir," he said as he steppd back in to the slightly cooler outdoors, turning up his jacket collar to keep every inch of himself warm.

"No problem, Barton," the owner called out as he waved at Theo from the doorway.

Theo glanced around at his surroundings to verify where he'd ended up, and did a quick mental draft of where he'd go to continue on his route.

As he heard the door shut to the factory and the see light go away to leave him in the dark night, he looked up to the sky, wondering what the hell he'd just gotten himself into.

**  
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	8. Fear & Denial

_**A Daughter's Will**_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.

**A/N: **Here's Chapter 8, out sooner thatn expected. But it doesn't matter much tome. A finished chpater is a finished chapter, and I'm not going to wait for a certain amount o time, before throwing out another. I want this fic done and completed faster than "An Orphan's Life" took, because that was a VERY long time, and I flet bad for making people wait. Anywho, here's the next chapter. Hoepfully, 9 and 10 will be out soon as well. Until then. R&R and I'll see you next chapter... And PLEASE review... I'm starting to think this fic isn't going over well... Really unmotivating...

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As Jennifer walked into her house, she noticed the red light blinking on her answering machine. She let out a sigh, wondering why people only called her when she wanted to lay down and relax, instead of her lonely days. She reached down with her free hand as she walked by, her hands full of mail, her purse, and Caterina's dress, and pushed the "play" button.

She continued on her way as the machine beeped and began playing her messages.

"Jenny, darling, it's mother again! I was just calling to see if everything's okay and if you were all right. We saw on the news the horrible thing that happened to Dorothy Winner, and we read in the paper about Caterina. I was hoping you were nowhere near either of them during all of this. Anyways, sweetheart, just give me a ring as soon as you hear this. Let your dear mother know you're fine... And maybe give me some more dirt, if you heard any about the Winners. Hugs and kisses, dear. I love you, bye!"

Jennifer rolled her eyes, as she sifted through her mail, the machine beeping to signify the end of the message and continuing on to the next one.

Why did her mother have to fill in the typical catty rich housewife stereotype? Why couldn't she just be happy with her money and life and find something better to do with her time?

Jennifer sighed again as she got halfway through her letters and seeing nothing but bills. How did she have so many, when she owned her house, and required very few things?

"Hey, Jen... It's Cat... Um... I was just calling you back like I said I would do... I really have nothing more to say, though. I'm still pretty peeved about the whole thing. Anyways, I'm just driving around, trying to clear my head... If you want to to talk, just give me a call. I probably won't answer right away, but I _will_ get to it. I _am_ checking my voicemail every half hour or so. Just to keep in touch and all. So, if there's an emergency, or something happens with my parents... I'll get to the calls, so yeah... Er, um... Bye, then."

The machine beeped loudly again, before moving on to the next message.

Jennifer stared at it glumly, having heard the sadness in Caterina's voice. She knew how upset Caterina was about the whole half naked pictures of her all over the newspapers. It was an added bit of stress that her friend really didn't need. She knew Caterina was going crazy from planning the wedding, and any extra problem that came along really was pushing her even closer to the edge.

Jennifer could only hope that her friend was much stronger than she was currently acting and would allow herself to handle the current issues better and get back on her feet.

She looked to the answering machine when she heard Theo's voice.

"Hey, Jen. Just calling to say hi and apologize for not calling you sooner. I know we sort of talked last night, but there wasn't much said, considering the situation. Also, I never actually has the chance to even talk to you about the party. There's just been so much going on these last couple of days...

Er, anyways, my dad called me earlier this morning and apparently, the circus is coming back to town in February. Some sort of anniversary of something. And he wanted to know if you were intersted in performing again during that month or whatever. Or even come on over and visit. He said he couldn't get ahold of you, so that's why he's making me the messenger.

Anywho, just call him as soon as you can and talk to him about this. He's really excited, for some strange reason. And I'll hang up now, since I really don't know how long this message thing can stretch. Just give him and me a call and... stuff... Bye."

The machine beeped loudly again.

Jennifer made a face at the noise, as she mulled over what Theo had just said. Tke circus was making an unusual stop in the Sank Kingdom this year. She wondered what the occasion was.

She looked to the answering machine when she realized that there hadn't been any noise from it for a while. She walked over to it and glanced down to see if that was the end of the messages.

Just then, there was static, and what sounded like a muffled voice. She strained her ears to listen to whatever it was.

There was what sounded to be a young girl's voice coming in and out. Every other word was hard to hear. "H-heim...shhirjein... Sister... frgmech... Call soonishdefem... Please..."

Jennifer frowned in confusion not getting the few words she made out. _Sister? Call?_

She shrugged this off as the message ended and went on to the next one. It must have a wrong number or a bad call from a cell phone. Whoever it was would probably call again.

"Hey, my cousin!"

Jennifer looked up and smiled at the familiar sweet voice coming from the machines speakers. It'd been a while since she'd heard it.

"It's been a long time, my dear! The boys and Hagan say hi! I've been meaning to call you, but I've just been so darn busy! I'm sure you have been too! I'm actually a bit bummed out that you weren't home to answer, but I suppose you're busy at work. Oh, well.

Anyways, I was hoping that we could meet up somewhere. You know, catch up and whatnot. Oh, and momma Une wanted to see you too and... well, _everybody_, actually.I guess she hasn't talked to anybody for a while too, ha... So, um, give me a call whenever you get this, so that we can arrange something. I hope to see you soon! Love you lots, cousin! Bye!"

Mariemaia's voice rang out and carried over for a while, until the machine's loud beep cut her off. The robotic voice then told her that she no longer had any more new messages.

Jennifer smiled some more after hearing Mariemaia's voice. It _had_ been a long time since she'd last spoken to her distant cousin.A _very_ long time. She wondered how she was doing. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed her cousin until now. Was it really three months since she'd last seen her?

She reached out to pick up her cordless phone and dial Mariemaia's number. She glanced over to her couch and stopped dialing upon seeing the dress. She really should call Jacob first and let him know that she got his little favor done. She smiled, secretly amused at how she'd gotten it done so fast, and how stupid he'd feel at thinking the job was going to be hard.

Sure, she'd gotten lucky and happened to be in the same dress shop as Caterina. But that was all circumstance. She still did it. He didn't have to know any details or the story on how she'd gotten it.

She hung up the phone and then picked it up again, dialing Jacob's cell phone number. Oh, how fun it'd be to pester him.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Caterina stared blankly at the road ahead of her. She'd come to the dead end street about an hour ago, and was now just sitting there thinking.

Whenever she was upset, she tend to want to drive nonstop. For some strange reason, it calmed her. Something about the open road and never quite knowing where you were going always comforted her. It was a mini adventure, an escape when she couldn't take any more problems going on in her life.

Right now, though, she was starting to feel horrible again. It really did seem hopeless for her.

It was only a matter of time before the papparazzi found her, or the news reporters, and pound her with irritating, rude, and offensive questions and comments. This latest "sex scandal" was great gossip for them, and the timing couldn't have been any better. It was like someone knew about her mother, but wanted to overshadow it and make her look stupid. Maybe it was a ploy to sabotage her wedding.

Not that there was much needed to do so, as it was already falling apart before her eyes anyways. The newest chruch she had managed to find the other night cancelled her reservation upon seing the tabloids. The caterer merely laughed in her face when she finally went to schedule an appointment. The florist seemed to be the only sympathetic party, however, they were still agitated about her choice of flowers, so that meeting didn't go too well. Pierre was obviously amused when she stopped by to drop off Jacob's measurements for the third time, and she didn't stick around long enough to hear what he had to say. She was tired of the stares and snickers and just wanted to get away for the rest of the day.

And here she was, sitting in her car, hiding from the rest of the world. Was this really her life? What the hell had happened? She'd never had so much problems going on at once before. When trouble started, she shook it off and went on her merry way. Nothing really bothered her much before, until a few months ago. What had happened to cause such a change?

And then it clicked.

Jacob had proposed to her in September. And she had immediately started the planning. Yeah, she was excited and happy, and couldn't wait to become Mrs. Jacob Peacecraft.

But now that she thought about it...

The riots had progressed even worse the last year, as well as the crime rate going up. None of this had been Jacob's fault, but they were a part of it. Because of the riots, it was hard for her to get the things she'd wanted for the wedding. And Jacob was hardly around to get much of his opnion on anything.The rest of the gang had been busy, Theo with working nonstop, Jen and Elysia constantly doing things for the orphanage, her friends off doing their own thing... She'd literally been thrusted into a tough situation with very few people to fall back on and help her.

Was it really worth getting the wedding done in this time? Should she even bother continue trying to make it happen? Jacob had seemed pretty apprehensive lately about any "wedding talk". And he was constantly hinting at how much he wished Lisette could be there to witness the occasion.

She leaned forward and rested her forehead on the steering wheel, getting more upset. She fought back the tears she felt springing to her eyes, telling herself that she was a _Winner,_ and that she needed to be much more stronger than this

She turned her head to the passenger side of the car when she heard her cell phone begin to ring. She wondered who would be calling her at the moment. Jacob was busy guarding Elysia, and she really didn't think Jennifer would be calling her back anytime soon.

Despite the voice screaming in her head not to pick it up, she reached out and grabbed her phone anyways. She was really curious to see who'd want to speak to her. She blinked in surprise at seeing a number she'd never seen before on the phone's display. Was her mom calling her from a different phone extension at the office?

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly, sitting up and brushing her hair back from her face.

"Caterina Winner," a deep voice she'd didn't recognize stated, more than really asked.

Caterina frowned, wondering who this person was. Was this one of the hotels she called, asking about a reservation for her wedding reception? "Um, yes?... Who is this?"

"That's not important," the man on the other end replied roughly.

There was a pause where Caterina stared off into the distance confusedly, trying to figure out who the hell had gotten a hold of her number.

"I thnk it's safe to say that you've seen the pictures of yourself last year," the man continued.

Caterina immediately grew angry at that, her eyes narrowing. "Look, buddy, I don't know how you got my cell phone number, but I'm not accepting interviews, nor propositions, you sick, disturbed perv-"

"That's not why I'm calling you, Winner," the voice interrupted. " I just wanted to let you know that it was me who was responsible for putting those out there"

Caterina's jaw dropped in shock at what she heard. Was that true? Or was he just saying that to get something more out of her. "You _what_!"

"My organization is the source of those pictures... We put them out there for a reason. Two, actually."

Caterina tried to take this in, not wanting to believe any of it. _He _has_ to be lying. No way is this guy for real!_

She leaned back in her seat and crossed her free arm around her self. "Uh, huh... And those reasons are...?"

"Well, for one thing, to push back the little incident with your mother on the back burner. We don't need publicity on us. We'd rather distract and make people talk about something else."

Caterina started to feel sick to her stomach at where this was going. Even if he was lying, what he was saying was still unnerving. "A-and the other reason?"

"Why, as a warning to you, of course." He paused, apparently expecting an answer, but she had nothing to say. He laughed a little at her silence and went on." You see, we're looking for a certain somebody you know. And we all know that _you_ know where she's at. And judging by all of those pictures, it appears that you're quite close to her." His voice suddenly grew low and serious, nearly sinister. "I want you to tell me where she's at. Maybe turn her over to us."

Caterina tried to hold back the fear that had risen in her chest. She glanced around nervously, not knowing what to do. Why did she have to park in the middle of the woods? Did he really mean what he said? Did he know about Elysia? Was he really referring to her?

She tried to not sound as scared as she felt. "And if I don't comply?"

"You see those pictures?... There's more where those came from. Far worse, might I add. And they're not just of you. I think Mr. Peacecraft would be highly upset at seeing himself plastered all over the city naked and... well, some other_ unflattering_ pictures. And that little blonde girl running around with your little friends' beau? You know, Mr. Barton. Oh, my, wouldn't she be upset if these pictures of them cozied up together got out."

Caterina's eyes widened as she realized who he was talking about. "But you can't prove that they even did anything together. They could just be perfectly innocent."

"Oh, really? Well, wouldn't it be a sad little spin regardless? Think about it: 'Mysterious Peacecraft Lookalike friend of Caterina Winner scorned in a vicious love triangle!'... Believe me, Caterina, the world is a very easy place to manipulate. You take a few things out of context and see the delightful uproar it causes."

"Don't you dare call me by name again!" she hissed through her phone. Caterina could practically see the evil smirk on his face as he said that. She struggled on how to deal with the anger, hurt, and fear that was raging inside her. " I think I've heard enough."

"Au contraire, my dear, I think you haven't heard enough at all. You see, because the pictures will just be a start. The longer you wait to tell us anything, the more violent we'll get. That incident with your mother? An accident. Pure stupidity on the part of a cocky colleague of mine. But he was just a rookie. Imagine the wrath of someone who's surpassed him. And we won't just go after your parents. We'll go after your little friends, and co-workers. Even your precious fiance. His family already has an incapcitated child. What's one more?"

Caterina drew in a sharp breath at that. That was more than just an idle threat. That was...

"You heartless monster," she said, not being able to think of anything more meaningful than that.

"Maybe, I suppose. But that depends on who you talk to. Now, then, I think I've explained my position fairly well. It's up to you to make the next move. I'll give you some time to think about everything I told you. _Really_ let it sink in. I'll call you back when your first deadline approaches. Now, I must tell you ahead of time that I'll be getting less pleasant each phone call. That's to be expected. But, since this is the first time, I'll let you know when your deadline is to answer."

Caterina stared blankly ahead, not believing what was just happening. This time, she couldn't hold back the tears. "When is it?"

"You have until the middle of february. Seems like a long time, but it really isn't. That's only six weeks. Six weeks to look at your friends and family and determine who's more important, and who or what you're willing to sacrifice in the name of protecting the girl. I know how hard those things can be. So, I'll leave you alone now. Don't forget what I said. Remember, you have until February. Then, something far worse than a picture of you covered in a bedsheet will happen. Adieu!"

The phone clicked and went silent.

Caterina sat paralyzed in her seat, trying to get this through her head. She slowly lowered her phone down and let it drop from her hand, clattering on the floor.

_Was he serious? Does he really have the power to do all of those things he said?_

She sniffled a bit and leaned forward again onto the steering wheel, beginning to cry. What was she going to do now? Should she say anything to her father? Or Jacob? What could they do? And what if they got hurt, because she told them?

Her cries soon turned into sobs. She just wanted to drive, think, and take a break. She didn't need this.

Why did she answer her phone?

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Elysia awoke in Theo's bed, yawing a little as she stretched out in the bed. It' d been a long day and night. She felt surprsingly well rested, considering she hadn't gotten to bed until three that morning, and it was now nine o'clock.

Jacob, Shane, Wufei, and Duo had all worked together in sneaking Elysia out of the Preventers' Hospital quickly, and, hopefully, unseen.

Since Elysia was the only victim of the New Year's Party who could talk about the incident, and her life was clearly in danger, Shane had taken extra precautions with her. He'd been trying to talk her into getting in a witness protection type service, but she'd refused. Heero wasn't much inclined to that either, as were the rest of the people in the room who'd heard his suggestion. The public opnion was that if she's going to be in danger, then everybody would be there to help her and place their lives in danger as well.

It was only fair.

So, Shane was forced to come up with an elaborate scheme to get her out of the hospital, without anybody who may be watching aware that she was leaving.

But he came up with a fairly simple plan.

Have Jade take Elysia from her room under the guise of more tests, switch her with a decoy nurse when she goes to change behind a curtain into a "special" hospital gown, take the "nurse" from the room and have her clock out, as if Elysia had just finished working a night shift, and then have her take the stairwell down to the parking lot, escorted by Wufei.

Jacob had waited in the car and was watching for any potential attackers. He was ready for anything. Shane and Duo were waiting at certain points in the hospital, just in case, someone intervened and took Elysia to a different part of the hosptial and ruin the plan.

Thankfully, everything went well.

Jacob had managed to get Theo's apartment key, so they didn't have to go through the whole security thing to get into the gated complex.

They walked in, after Jacob had done a thorough room search, that is, and she went straight to bed. It wasn't that she was overjoyed at being in Theo's place after so long. She just wanted to lay down in an actual bed for once. It'd been a good two and half straight days since she last slept in her own bed. She hated the hospital bed with a passion. It just wasn't the same as home.

She now got up and sat at the edge of the bed, taking in her surroundings. She'd been to Theo's apartment a few times, and only once went into his bedroom. That was the night she'd first felt sick.

Theo had very few items in his room. There was just his bed, a small black dresser to the right side of the bed, a small nightstand on the left, and a t.v. stand tucked away in a corner. Nearly everything was black, except for the standard white walls and beige carpet.

Elysia smiled as she saw that despite the bareness of the room, Theo's dresser, t.v. stand, and night stand were littered with picture frames. She looked at each one, studying all the people in them. Most of them were family portraits of Theo, his brother and sister, Gabriel and Rene, and Trowa. One had all of them, plus Catherine's family, all five of her daughters in front, the oldest, Misha, tugging on Theo's hair, making him cry. It was pretty cute, considering how long ago that was, and how old Theo was at the time. It seemed a bit too close to the time before his mother had been murdered. Rene was still a baby and being held by Trowa, while Gabriel was sitting down, holding a big bag of cotton candy.

She glanced around at the rest of his pictures, smiling when she came across the one of him kissing her on the cheek, while she had a look of surprise, mixed with happiness on her face. He and Jennifer had planned it. Jennifer pretended to take a solo picture of Elysia, then had suddenly shouted "Now!" to which Theo came up from behind Elysa, and kissed her.

Elysia hadn't known who had kissed her, until after the camera's flash blinded her and she turned to see him laughing at her. That was on one of their many dates to the nearby park. That particular day, though, they decided to have a simple barbecue for whoever was able to get away from work and eat. That was one of the best days she'd had, a memory she relished. Everybody had been so happy and carefree. Not one person had to worry about anything at the time. They were all just enjoying each other's company.

But just a few days after that, the riots had gotten worse. This was when the fires had started. And the violence was increasing.

If only she could go back to that time between her life at the orphanage and now. After she'd found her father... she was content with her life. That was her only goal in life. To have a family. And she'd gotten it, what with the close-knit ties of the former gundam pilot's and their families, plus Elysia's blood relatives. Everything was nice for once in her life.

But now...

She turned in the bed to face the nightstand and noticed a picture she hadn't seen before. She crawled on the bed and grabbed it curiously.

It was a framed picture of Trowa and Theo's mother, Kate.

Trowa looked much younger in it. It seemed to be a photo from when the pair had been dating, since there were no rings on their fingers.

Trowa had his arm wrapped around Kate's shoulders, a big smile that Elysia had never seen him make on his face. Theo's mother was sharing the same grin, her eyes sparkling, as she was holding onto Trowa's arms around her with her left hand.

Both were obviously really happy. Trowa had an expression that was actually odd to see, considering how he wasn't too expressive, unless it came to talking about his children.

But Elysia couldn't take her eyes off of Theo's mother.

Katelyn Therese' Kusherenada was so beautiful. Her light brown, almost blonde hair was down, falling in loose waves down her shoulders. And her light, gray-blue eyes were, again, shining, almost as if she never had pain in her life.

Elysia noticed that out of all the kids, Rene was the one who most resembled their mom. Her hair was slightly darker, but her face was exactly like Kate's. She wondered how Trowa felt looking at his daughter each day, seing the face of his lost love.

She then made a face, realizing that it was probably the same way her own father felt, seeing as how she looked so much like Relena.

She looked away from the picture, and stood up, deciding that it was best for her to go get something to eat. Maybe, if she was lucky, Jacob would be fast asleep from having to watch over her all night, and wouldn't hear her if she were to sneak out to get some breakfast from her favorite restaurant down the road from the orphanage.

She slowly opened the bedroom door and peeked out, looking towards the living room. Jacob's legs were dangling over the edge of Theo's navy blue couch, and she was pretty sure she was hearing his soft snoring.

She took a cautious step out of the room and leaned a little towards the room, straining her ears to hear any potential change in Jacob's breathing pattern. When there was no difference, she straightened up and grabbed her purse, which was sitting on the floor outside of the room. She cringed when her car keys jingled slightly inside her small brown purse. She froze quickly, and waited, hoping that Jacob was still asleep. She waited ten agonizingly long seconds, before concluding that it was indeed safe for her to leave.

Just as she put her hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it, she heard him call out, "I hope you don't plan on leaving here without me. Because then I'll be forced to handcuff you to a chair, and we won't have to worry about you sneaking off anymore."

Elysia let out a sigh defeatedly and dropped her hand to her side." How did you know I was going?"

Jacob sat up on the couch and looked at her over the top, his eyes red from his lack of sleep. "I'm a light sleeper, Elysia. You know that." He sat up even more and stretched his arms over his head. "Anyways, I knew you were already awake, when I heard noise in Theo's room. You tend to stay in one spot when you sleep, so if there's any noise, you're either moving out of bed, or are doing something I choose to not think about."

Elysia made a face at the comment and reached out for the doorknob."Yeah, okay, that automatically gives me a free pass to do whatever I want today, without my little watchdog near."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at her, amused by her reaction. "Oh? Is little Ms. Goody Two Shoes actually threatening to do something bad? Oh, me, oh, my, somebody alert the authorities!" He raised his hands up, waving them erratically, as if he were actually afraid of her.

Elysia grew angry by this and opened the door. "See, that little insult cost you a damn good omelette. Now, I get to have two to myself and you get to starve!"

She took a step out into the hallway, but was stopped, by Jacob's arms wrapping around her and yanking her back into the apartment. As she stood there trying to process Jacob's lightning speed and how the hell he managed to grab her without her even realizing he was there, he slammed the door shut, and locked it. He turned and fixed a glare on her.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that just was?" he nearly shouted at her.

Elysia narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "_Stupid_? For opening a damn door! What, am I supposed to walk _through_ it?"

Jacob stood in front of her, blocking the front door, and crossed his arms. "You can't, I repeat,_ can't_, just walk out a door anymore. I have to check it for you!"

Elysia stared at him as if he were one of the "special" kids at the orphange."Check _what_! That the door doesn't creak? This is ridiculous!'

"Ridiculous!" This seemed to set him off. He looked away, rolling his eyes at her, as she apparently didn't understand what he was getting at. "Someone could be standing outside of the door with a gun, just waiting for you to step out. Or there could have been a bomb planted on it. Or some other terrorist device. These people can come up with anything, you know. And we _have_ to be prepared for it. And this includes checking the damn door, before we step out to go somewhere!"

Elysia crossed her arms at that, and tapped her elbows irritably. "Oh, yes, because you seeing a bomb, before it goes off in 30 seconds will really benefit me." Her sarcasm rang high in the room.

That, of course, pushed Jacob's anger even further. "Elysia, don't you get it?" he asked, his eyes flashing at her.

Elysia made a face at the question. "Get _what_? That you guys are all paranoid over nothing? That you're all wasting time and money 'protecting' me? I haven't done anything wrong, nor intend to do anything to anyone. I am not a threat, and am therefore not a target. It was all just a bunch of random accidents. I'm perfectly fine and safe."

Jacob's eyes had widened in shock at each sentence she'd said. When she finished speaking, he reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her a bit, hoping to get some sense into her head. "Elysia, people are after you, whether you choose to believe it or not. There are men out to kill you. You may not view yourself as a threat, but they do. And they'll stop at nothing to ensure that you're dead. They want you out of the way. They want to destroy your life, and the lives of those around you!" He leaned closer to her, staring her directly in the eyes. "If you care at all for your life, and the life of the child you're carrying inside of you right now, then you'll accept the protection that my father, as well as everybody else, feels that you need. You'll suck it up and deal with the annoyances as well as you can, because in the end, we're all here to make sure that _you_ live. I don' t think it's too much to ask of you to not be so damn selfish, when everybody else isn't."

Elysia's eyes narrowed. "Sefish? _Selfish!_ I didn't ask for this! I didn't ask for Uncle to send people out to 'protect' me! I didn't ask for everybody to flip out and start a huge investiagation! I didn't ask for any of this! All I wanted was to go to a stupid party with my family and friends, have some fun after a long year of work, and maybe have a couple dances wth the love of my life! I didn't want to get drugged, walk in on a robbery in process, or nearly die two times within two days!" She was starting to cry at this point, the tears pouring out of her eyes.

It wasn't that she was angry at Jacob for not letting her go. She understood his position, and why everything was the way it was. She got why she couldn't just go anywhere, anymore, without an escort. She understood that her life was possibly in danger. It wasn't his fault, nor anybody else around her.

But she was was angry at the situation. She was angry that she couldn't just go out and get an omelette, because somebody might be out to get her. She was angry that her simple life had been interrupted by some crazy men who were out to hurt her, and for no actual reason. She hated that she had to limit herself and her normal everyday routine, because some unknown assailants wanted her dead.

She was crying so hard now, that it was hard for her to talk anymore. Jacob saw this, and reached out to her, pulling her close to him as she cried into his chest. He held her tightly as she wept, wishing he could do something to help her. But he knew he couldn't. Not for a long time anyways.

They stood in the embrace for quite some time, he trying to comfort her, she trying to grasp why someone would want her dead.

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Shane tapped his fingers on his steel desk, competely bored out of his mind, as he looked over the newly filed reports he had on his computer.

There was so much crap going on, besides the current situation with Elysia. As a man who not only sold security systems and devices, as well as actually guard people, on top of his many other businesses, he had the responsibility of looking over every reported incident that came along under his supervision. It didn't matter if it was a simple house robbery, or a big problem like the incident at the Preventer's party; if it involved any of his businesses, he had to check it out and personally investigate it.

Granted, he had relinquished much control a while ago to a close colleague of his. That had really been a heavy burden lifted. He's never felt as free as he did that day.

But he had insisted that he at least read every filed report that came along. This way, he'd still have that personal touch and could overlook all that went on underneath him and be able to check for any mistakes.

But with the riots and that party still being a huge deal, those two were really high on his list of priorites. And they were weighing down on his mind right now as he was reading over the "Minor Case" files. How could he possibly focus on a liquor store theft, when a dear friend's life was in danger, and other people's blood was on his hands? On top of that, he had to look over the break-in at Dorothy Winner's office.

It was one of of his top systems that was installed in her building. It was also one of his "best" systems that had been destroyed at the party. And his guards were the ones patrolling the party, alongside the Preventer's.

The guilt was on him, as well as the anxiety at not knowing who or what was behind all of this.

He looked up to his office door when he heard it click and then open.

One of his office assistants was standing there, a slightly grim expression on his face, mixed with nervousness. Obviously whatever he was going to say wasn't something he wanted to say to his boss. "Uh, sir?"

Shane frowned as he leaned back in his chair. "Yeah? What is it?"

The assistant shifted uncomfortably on his feet and averted his gaze a bit from Shane. "There's some news about that man who was arrested the other day in Mrs. Winner's office."

Shane raised an eyebrow and waited. "And it is...?"

The assistant shifted again and looked at Shane, almost sympathetecially. "It's bad news."

Shane sighed and closed his eyes as he began to rub his temples from the headache he was starting to feel. "I'm not going to sit here and play twenty questions with you, Paul. _What _ is it you're supposed to tell me."

Paul, the assistant, sighed as well and held up a folder that was in his hands. "It's all in here... Apparently," he paused as he crossed the room to hand the folder to Shane," the man committed suicide, before he could be questioned."

As Shane heard this, he quickly dropped the folder out of his hands and pounded his desk with his fist. "Shit!... Damn it!" He looked down, placing his hands back on his temples, and shook his head, not believing this.

The man was a key person in finding out who was behind all od the attacks. He was the perfect source to finding out who was after Elysia and the others. And now...

He looked up to Paul, who was clearly afraid of him due to his reaction. "Do yourself a favor and take the rest of the day off. And tell the others the same. I really don't want to deal with work right now. I have an important job to do." He stood up and grabbed his jacket from off the back of his chair. He glanced back at Paul and added," In fact, call the rest of the Maxwell Industry offices and let everybody know that I'm giving them all a paid week off. I don't want anybody working on anything. I want you all to go home and enjoy your lives while you can." He then proceeded to walk out of his office, not caring how ominous he sounded. He had to talk to his dad and the rest of the pilot's about this. A lot was needed to be done now.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	9. Pain & Death

_**A Daughter's Will**_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.

**A/N: **Here's Chapter 9.

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Duo looked up from the styrofoam container of chinese food he was eating, staring at Wufei, who was seated at a nearby desk, typing up a storm on some sort of report. "I'll tell you one thing, Chang," he said, his mouth full of low mein noodles that were drooping out of his mouth," Your people sure know how to make a damn good lunch."  
Wufei paused in his typing, his eyebrow furrowing at the comment. He then took a deep breath and went back to his work, not even bothering to look back at Duo." I'll pretend that you didn't just say that, and instead remember you saying 'I'm a lonely loser with no sense of intelligence whatsoever'." Duo made a face, a bit sad. "That was a compliment."  
"Not when you word it the way you just did," Wufei snapped back.  
Duo fake pouted and threw down his chopsticks, crossing his arms."Fine! Then I won't eat your crappy food!" He reached out to get the uneaten fortune cookie he had, resting on a napkin, and cracked it open. He shoved one half in his mouth, while shaking the other in Wufei's direction as he said, with his mouth still full," You know, I'm lucky these things weren't even made in your country. Otherwise, I"d be starving right now."  
Wufei rolled his eyes. "You, with your big mouth, would never starve. You're always shoving some sort of crap in it." He ceased typing again to turn in his chair and look at Duo better. "You know, I find it rather sad that out of all of us, you're still the one who acts like a damn child."  
Duo just shrugged and read his fortune out loud. "Your day will be faced with many conflicts and trials. Don't jump to conclusions and be short-tempered." He raised an eyebrow and looked to Wufei, waving the tiny paper in his hand. "I think this was yours.  
Wufei let out a growl of frustration and turned back to his work. "Why do I continue to work with you?"  
"Because you love me," Duo said, smirking.  
Wufei shuddered and tried to focus on the report he was typing. "Please let me repress that later, mind."  
"I found something interesting," Heero called out, his voice causing the other two former pilots to jump in their seats. Heero had been so quiet, they had forgotten his presence in the farthest corner of the room.  
Heero had shown up early that morning, wanting to work on the investigation with the others at the Preventer's HQ. The former gundam pilots were hardly denied any request they made, due to their history.  
So, there they all were, pilots 01, 02, and 05, working on separate issues.  
Duo got up out of his seat and walked over to Heero. "What'd you find?"  
Heero leaned back in his chair, a slight bit satisfied. "The security system was disabled, obviously, from an outside source and location. These guys were smart enough to try and hide where this was by setting up false routes and blocks in their computer system. However, I was still able to trace the source of the system shutdown."  
Duo nodded a little and leaned against the table by Heero. "Where'd it lead to?"  
Heero shrugged. "Not sure, actually. I'm still getting to that."  
"Oh." Duo made a face at that. "I thought you actually got something more than that."  
Heero, surprisngly, made a face too, seeming to be a bit upset. "Well, I'm working on it. It's not like the technology has stayed the same for the last couple of years. I'm still trying to keep up with the new stuff... And these guys are really hi-tech."  
Duo gave his signature smirk and clapped Heero on the shoulder. "Aw, that's okay man! Didn't mean to make you feel inadequate. Although, you're starting to sound old, with that 'new technology' speech you just gave."  
Before Heero could say anything, the door to the room flew open.  
The two pilots, plus Wufei, quickly got in attack mode, reaching for whatever random weapon they had nearby, and got in their fighter stances.  
Shane stood frozen in the doorway, a peculiar expression on his face. "Chill, old guys. It's just me." He had a folder in his hands and he motioned for them to sit. "I've got some news for you. And it's not good."  
He walked into the room and sat on top of an empty table against the wall by Wufei.  
Duo looked at his son, eyebrows raised in question. "What have you got for us, Shane? Please tell me no more dead clients. That's all I need right now."  
Shane gave a half-hearted shrug, and held up the gold manila folder in his hand. "Well, it's not a dead _client_, but it's a dead person, all right."  
Duo continued staring at him, his violet eyes darkening. "Who?"  
Shane tossed the folder to Wufei, who immediately snatched it up to look over. "Our wonderful suspect caught the other day in Aunt Dorothy's office."  
Heero's eyes widened in shock, as did the other two pilots. "What?" he asked incredulously.  
Duo looked away, having a similar reaction like his son's: "Shit!"  
Wufei kept his exclamations to himself, silently reading the contents of the folder. " I can't believe this."  
Shane nodded his agreement. "I'm still trying to accept this... I guess the man managed to make a noose from the clothes he had on... I think it's safe to say that these guys are well trained and equipped to handle any situation."  
Duo looked down and shook his head. "Damn it, he was the best thing that could have happened to this investigation." His head suddenly shot up when a thought crossed his mind. He looked pleadingly into Shane's eyes. "Please tell me you a least got a chance to interrogate him."  
Shane looked at him apologetically and shook his head. "Sorry, dad. I hadn't gotten the chance to deal with him yet... And now it's too late."  
Duo let out a sigh and looked away, shaking his head. He wasn't necessarily angry with his son. He was angry that they'd let the guy slip through their fingers so easily. He leaned against the table silently, trying to figure out their next course of action.There was a long awkward silence between the four men, as they mulled this bit of news over.  
After about five minutes, Duo broke the silence. "All right, you guys," he said, not quite looking up at anyone in particular. "It's apparent that we're just going to have to carry on and continue this investigation.. We're back at square one and all we can do is hope that another one of these idiots will walk into our hands again... There's nothing much else we _can_ do." He sighed and shook his head. " I wish we could've gotten something, _anything,_ out of that guy before he decided to off himself."  
He jumped up when his cell phone began to ring, interrupting him. He frowned, looking to the caller i.d., and then let his anger go when he saw that it was Quatre. He flipped opened his phone and brought it to his ear. "Hey, Quatre, what's up?"  
"Duo, I've been calling around, asking everybody, and they all said they don't know and to talk to you."  
Duo made a face in confusion. "Know about what?" _Why does he sound so worried and panicky?_  
"Have you seen my daughter? I've been trying to get a hold of Caterina for two days now, and she hasn't called me back or anything. I'm really worried about her." Quatre was very distressed at this point.  
Duo tried to hold back the alarm that was rising in him from hearing Quatre. Caterina Winner was missing? Why hadn't anyone brought this to his attention sooner?  
He stood up straight and pulled on his shirt with his free hand, trying to remain calm, for Quatre's sake, and be as soothing as possible. "Um, I personally haven't seen her, but I'm sure she's fine..." He looked to Shane. "Hey, Shane, have you seen Caterina at all in the last two days?" His eyes conveyed just how much he wanted a decent answer from his son, something that wasn't pointing to the dark barren path of death that Quatre was making him think of.  
Shane looked up thoughtfully and then nodded. "Yeah, I saw her the other night, when Heero's apartment was robbed. She was with Jacob. Although, I think she went home with Jennifer." It was then that he realized that something was wrong. "Why, dad? Did something happen?"  
Duo waved a hand and shook his head. "No, Shane, nothing happened. Quatre's just a little worried is all." He turned his attention back to his phone. "You hear that, Quat? She _was_ seen the other night. It's just today that she hasn't been accounted for, right?"  
Quatre's voice was weighed down with worry. "Well, I guess so, if Shane saw her... But that still doesn't explain her not answering her calls."  
"Well, have you tried Jennifer and Jacob then? I'm sure they had to have talked to her."  
"Jennifer hasn't heard from Cat since the conversation they had about those delightful pictures of her... She told me that Caterina was really upset about those, which goes without saying... Jacob's been too busy watching Elysia. He _did_ say that he tried calling Caterina, but she didn't answer her phone... He last saw her that same night Shane did... But nobody's seen or heard from her at all today..."  
Duo sighed, knowing that this really wasn't a minor situation. But he didn't want to think about another child of the pilots getting hurt or ... worse... And he especially didn't want to break it to Quatre that everything was pointing to the "bad" possibilities of what may have happened to his daughter.  
He wiped his face with his hand, brushing his long bangs back, while looking back at Heero, Wufei, and Shane, who had all stopped what they were doing to listen intently to the conversation he was having. They were all obviously worried. "Well, I'm sure she's got a good excuse for running off. Perhaps she's had some last minute thing with the wedding plans or something... Don't worry, Quatre. Caterina's just fine... But, I will keep an eye out for her, as well as the guys here. So, you don't have to worry, all right?"  
Oh, how he hated lying. It was just so wrong, no matter what the situation or reasoning.  
It was Quatre's turn to sigh dejectedly. "I suppose... Thanks, Duo... I'm going to give Trowa a call, and maybe my sisters. Hopefully one of them ran into her."  
Duo nodded, even though Quatre couldn't see him ."Good idea. I'll make a couple calls too, and see what I can find. I'll call you later if something comes up, okay?"  
"Sure... Bye, Duo."  
"Bye." Duo closed his phone shut, ending the call, and looked down sorrowfuly. "That's just what I needed right now, you guys." He looked up to Shane. "That's just what we all needed." He looked to his watch and then to Shane. "You cover for me, son. I've got some calls to make."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Elysia looked up to Jacob, who was sitting across from her at the small table in the cramped booth of the little diner she loved. He had been picking away at his pile of pancakes, not really eating. Although, if she had put as much peanut butter as he did on his pancakes, she'd probably wouldn't want to be eating them either.  
She silently watched him as he periodically pulled out his cell phone, looking at the display screen expectantly, nervously, and then putting it away with a sigh. She wondered what was going on.He was staring out the big glass window now of the diner, just looking up at nothing in particular. After a while, he felt her staring, and looked back to her. "Enjoying your omelette?" he asked, the first words spoken to her since they got to the restaurant. He hadn't seem too overjoyed at leaving the safety of Theo's apartment. But he had offered to take her, on account of making her cry.Elysia took another bite of the giant egg and vegetable combination in front of her and nodded, smiling. "Mmhmm."Jacob gave a slight smile back, satisfied of her answer. "Good... Because we can never come back here."Elysia frowned, but went back to smiling, when he laughed, signaling that it was just a joke. She allowed herself to giggle a little bit, but stopped when her stomach began to hurt. "Oh, ow... That was a new pain," she muttered as she quickly grabbed her abdomen.Jacob rose a bit from his seat, reaching out to her. "Are you okay? Is everything all right?" he asked, nervously.Elysia nodded, despite the sharp stabbing feeling in her stomach. "Yeah, I'm fine..." She looked up at him slightly. "I guess the baby didn't like your lame joke."He snorted and sat back down, crossing his arms. "Pfft... I bet the kid just doesn't have a sense of humor to begin with."The pain had subsided a bit, so Elysia let go, and poked at her omelette a bit, glancing up at Jacob. "Oh, I hope not. Because that would seriously depress me. I really wouldn't know what to do if my kid never laughed." She paused, the feeling she was getting from talking about her child overcoming her. It was so weird to talk about the growing person inside of her, and it was even more strange to talk about _her _child. She had avoided all talks about the baby up until now, so it was still nonexistant to her. But now that she brought it up...  
She gripped the table suddenly as a wave of dizziness swept through her. "Okay, here we go again."Jacob reached out to her and gripped her hand tightly. "Are you sure you're fine? Because if you're not, I'll just take you to Jade or the house or something." When she didn't answer, he made a face. "I knew we shouldn't have left."Elysia had her eyes shut and was trying to clear her mind. But she couldn't let him say things like that and use this as an excuse for no future outings. "Aw, c'mon, Jakey! I'm fine. It's just a minor setback in my biological system. I'll be fine, I promise. You just sit there and eat your pancakes. You know you love them."Jacob sighed and shook his head. "You really are stubborn, you know that?"Elysia laughed a little as she started to feel a little better. She opeend her eyes and looked to her cousin. "Yeah, but you all love me anyways."Jacob snorted again and began to smother some more peanut butter on his pancakes. "Maybe Theo does, but not the rest of us sane people... And now I have to wonder what it is that makes him love you..." He stopped smearing the peanut butter and set his knife down, leaving the pancakes alone again.Elysia made a face and pointed to his plate. "Oh, right, I'm crazy. You're the one who puts a crap load of peanut butter on your pancakes, and then _not_ eat 'em. What's up with _that_?"  
Jacob glanced down to his plate and shrugged. " I'm letting them rest a bit and breathe, before I put the syrup on. If I don't do that, then they all just soak together and get soggy. And there's nothing worse than soggy pancakes."Elysia just stared at him as if he were crazy and shook her head. "Man, I wonder what it was that Uncle Zechs and Aunt Noin did to mess you up like this."Jacob waved a hand dismissively as he reached out to the line of syrup bottles at the end of the table, reading over the labels. "Many, many things, my dear. Like, giving me a sister, for one thing." As the words came out of his mouth, he suddenly looked down, guilt and sadness rising in his face. He hadn't meant to say it like that, or make it seem that he was happy without Lisette around.Elysia saw this and reached out to him, grabbing ahold of his arm. "It's okay, Jake. I ... I understand... You didn't mean it to sound like that."Jacob shook his head and covered his face with his hand. "I still shouldn't have said that... Lisette doesn't deserve this, you know..."Elysia stared at him sympathetically. "I know... But..." She tried to think of something to comfort him, or even change the subject. He was really starting to show his sadness at Lisette being stuck in a coma. She wasn't sure if it was going to get worse or not.At that moment, her cell phone began to ring. She jumped at the unexpected high tingling notes of it's ringing. She bit her lower lip, a tad annoyed at the timing of the call. She sighed and reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out her small pink cell phone. "Yeah?""Oh, so you _are_ okay," Theo's tired voice came through the phone, souding relieved.  
Elysia was momentarily confused, until she realized that they weren't in his apartment as they had all agreed to. He must have just gotten home from work. She reached her arms up to rest her head on her palms and looked away from Jacob. "Yeah, we're fine. I was a little hungry, so we went out and got some breakfast.""It's almost eleven-thirty, El," Theo replied back teasingly.Elysia smiled a bit and began to run her fingers through her hair, a habit she developed whenever Theo joked around with her. "I know, but Jacob is taking his sweet time eating his pancakes. We've been sitting here for a while now." She stole a glance at Jacob, who appeared to have gotten over what he had said and was now listening to her phone call.He made a face at her last sentence and crossed his arms. "I already told you," he said semi-seriously.Elysia just shook her head and continued her conversation. "I'm starting to think he doesn't even _like_ pancakes... Oh, hey, do you want us to bring you anything?"  
"Nah, that's okay. I'm wiped out. I just want to sleep." He paused, seeming to be thinking. "I was just a little worried, since I got home, and you two were gone. There wasn't a note or anything, so yeah... Just thought I'd give you a call... Oh, and have you heard from Caterina? Quatre's left a message on both of my phones, and he sounded pretty worried... I haven't seen her since the robbery, so... yeah..."Elysia frowned as she looked over to Jacob. _When _was_ the last time I saw Caterina?_ She tried to remember, but she couldn't place seeing her older friend, not even on the night Theo mentioned. She must have been really out of it.  
She opened her mouth to ask Jacob, when it suddenly hit her that that's what he'd been doing the whole time he was checking his cell phone. He had been waiting for Caterina to call him. In fact, he was doing it again at that very moment.She frowned some more, wondering what was going on. She looked away from Jacob, so that he couldn't see the worry etched on her face and looked down. "Uh, no... Actually, hon, I really can't recall anytime I've seen her, outside of the party where she was dancing with you."As she said the last part, her head began to pulse with a sharp pain. She cried out and dropped her phone unknowingly, grabbing her head in pain.Jacob quickly got up to check on her. "What happened now?"All she could do was shake her head, as it hurt to do anything, and she didn't really have the answer. Why did her head start to hurt so much?She reached around blindly for her phone, to try to talk to Theo, but Jacob smacked her hand away and took her phone instead. "No, you sit there and relax." He put the phone to his ear. "Hey, who is this?"Elysia watched him through narrowed eyes as Jacob began talking to Theo. She couldn't stop the pain pounding through her skull."Dude, what'd you say to her?" Jacob looked to Elysia as he listened to Theo's answer and rubbed the back of her head comfortingly. "She's on the floor in pain, man... I don't get what- wait... She said something about the party?" He looked down to Elysia in surprise. "Fuck, she remembered something from that night..."Elysia rested her head on the table, closing her eyes at Jacob's soothing touch and tried to focus on something else. It was working a little bit, as the pain subsided for a couple of seconds."All right, Theo, I'm going to have to call you back. I'm thinking of swinging by the hospital now or something, since she.. you, know..." He was still looking at Elysia incredulously. "Okay, then... Bye."  
He pushed the "end" button on her phone and tucked it into his front pocket. He leaned down to Elysia, ignoring the stares from the other patrons in the diner and asked quietly," Are you okay, now?"  
Elysia waited a few more seconds and nodded. "Yeah... I... yeah..." She felt his hand grab hers and squeeze reassuringly.  
"C'mon, then. Let's get going..." He gently pulled her to her feet and leaned her against him. He reached over to grab the rest of their stuff, holding it over his right arm. He looked to one of the waitresses passing by and asked," Can you get this stuff to go for us? I gotta take her to the car."  
The waitress nodded and walked off to grab some containers.Jacob looked down to his cousin, who was clearly still in pain, but pretending she wasn't. He couldn't get how throughout the entire meal she was constantly in pain, for some reason or another. And through a simple conversation wtih Theo, she had rememberd something from the New Year's party. It wasn't something useful to the investigation, but it was still significant.  
_I wonder if we were to continue with her on every day conversation and pick up more information from her...?_  
He slowly began to walk her out of the restaurant, trying to determine which would be better to go to next; the Preventer's hospital or Shane's office. He could only hope that there was nothing seriously wrong with his only cousin and that her recent pain was just a coincidence.

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Jennifer looked up at her answering machine sitting on the far end of her desk as it clicked on. She was at work again in the Maxwell Orphanage, and it had been another hard, busy day, since Elysia still hadn't returned back. Because of this, she had stopped answering phone calls, as they were just another nuisance she didn't want to deal with, and they also prevented her from finishing her paperwork.  
She waited for whoever it was to leave a message, not really wanting to hear who it was. There was a second of silence before the person began talking."Hey Jennifer, it's me. Just calling like I said I would."Jennifer looked up quickly, and smiled happily, recognizing the voice as Jonathan's. Oh, how she looked forward to hearing from him again. The other day was so great..."Sorry for not calling you sooner. I've been so busy with work. One day off after a holiday just doesn't cut it. I need more vacations... Anyways, I remember you saying how you never knew where your family was buried and have never seen them. So, I thought I'd look it up for you, and sure enough, I found them. So, if you want to, I'll take you to go visit them the next free day you have off. Sounds good? Then give me a call and let me know."She could practically see him smiling right. Hers was a bit different now, it being caused from gratefullness. She had mentioned that to him when they were visiting his parents, but she hadn't expected him to do anything about it. She really didn't even think that her family was actually buried somewhere. And now he went and did this nice thing for her for no really good reason.She quickly picked up the phone, before he could hang up. "Jonathan! Hey!" she said cheerfully. "Sorry I didn't pick up right away. I thought you were another telemarketer or something."  
He chuckled on the other end, music to her ears. "Ahhh, is that what it was?.. So, what do you say? You're up for another walk?"Jennifer's smile broadened and she nodded. "Oh, yeah. Definitely. I mean, I can't believe you did this for me... I _have _to go now..."  
"Aw, it was no problem for me. It gave me something to do while I wait for these lazy bums to assign me some work."Jennifer gave a light laugh. "Oh, so you only did it, because you were bored, not because you cared so much for me." She faked sadness in her voice."Oh, uh... Is it too late to take that answer back?"Jennifer smirked as she tapped a pen on her desk. "Yes, but if you buy me a lunch, then I'll pretend you never said it.""Oh, you drive a hard bargain, woman, but I suppose I'll do it." She could tell he was holding back his laughter.She didn't though. She giggled, a bit flirtatiously, as she said," _Woman_? Congratulations, you just bought me dessert too, for that comment."  
"Aw, damn it. I should probably hang up before I dig myself any deeper.""Ha, ha.. Maybe you should think before you speak." She looked to her cell phone as it began to ring, and groaned in disappointment. As much as she wanted to, and loved, speaking to Jonathan, she had to answer it. Her cell phone was different than the work phone. People she actually wanted to talk to called her on that."What's wrong, Jenny?"Jennifer sighed and picked up her cell phone, glancing at the display to see who was calling. "Someone's calling me right now, so I just might have to hang up on you." She frowned when she saw Quatre's work number on it. _Why's he calling again_?  
"Aww... Well, that's okay, I think one of my supervisors is calling my name right now... So, I'll see you soon then?"Jennifer stared at her phone as it continued to ring and nodded again. "Yeah.. .Saturday morning."Jonathan laugh, clearly amused by her straight forwardness. "Oh, okay. Saturday it is. I'll meet you the same place we first met."Jennifer smiled, remembering the little store again. "Okay.. Bye.""Adios!"She put the phone back on the hook and answered her cell phone, which never stopped ringing. "Hello?""Jennifer! Hi!"Jennifer blinked, taken aback from the voice she was hearing. How the hell did her cousin get her work number, and why was she calling from Quatre's work phone. "Mariemaia?"Mariemaia laughed on her end of the phone. "Oh, I know, dear, I'm sorry for confusing you. I was just in the area for some business, and came across Quatre's office. He seemed busy making some calls, so he told me to wait in his office. I, obviously, got bored, so I flipped through his rolodex and came across your work number. So, here I am, calling you... Did you get my message?"Jennifer looked down, and shook her head, silently laughing at her distant cousin's behavior. Mariemaia Kushrenada-Dreizehn was a young girl at heart still and never took no for an answer. She was surprised that her cousin hadn't busted out the prank phone calls first."Uh, yeah, I got it. I was going to call you right after I was done hearing it, but I had to call Jacob first, for something he wanted me to do for him. And by the time I was done talking to him, it was really late, so I didn't want to go and wake you up.""Oh? And what does that Peaceraft boy have to do with you? Isn't he with Quatre's daughter?"Jennifer shook her head some more at Mariemaia's motherly response. "Yes, he's marrying her, remember? I was just doing him a favor.""What _kind_ of favor?"  
Jennifer gasped. "Mariemaia! Nothing like _that_! He just wanted me to help him on a surprise he's doing for Caterina."  
"Oh... Well, I was just asking..."There was a pause as Jennifer then heard a voice in the background. A few seconds later Mariemaia was back on the phone."Jenny, dear? I'm going to have to call you back. Quatre just got back."  
"Oh, sure, not a problem." Jennifer tried to listen to what it was the other two were talking about. She really was confused on why Mariemaia was visiting Quatre. It wasn't like she just took off and did as she please, without bringing her kids along."All, righty, then.. I'll call you later at home, okay?""Perfectly fine with me... Bye, then..."Bye, bye!"Jennifer hung up her phone and gave a sigh. That was a silly conversation. She almost regretted hanging up on Jonathan just to answer her cell phone.She frowned when it began to ring again. She picked it up, wondering what Mariemaia forgot to say and answered it. "Yeah?""Stay away from the double agent!" a young girl's voice hissed through the phone.Jennifer froze, trying to fight back the confusion and fear that swept through her. She blinked and took a couple deep breaths, before replying back. "Uh, I'm sorry... What?""Stay away from the double agent! Your life may be in danger if you stay around him!"Jennifer frowned even more, the girl's voice starting to sound scary. "I don't know what you're talking about. .. Who _is _this?"  
But she didn't get an answer. The girl abruptly hung up the phone, leaving Jennifer to start at her phone blankly._Who the hell was that? And what was she talking about?_  
She then remembered the caller i.d. and quickly went to retrieve the recent calls list. As she looked it over, she grew more confused, wondering why there was no number on her phone, but a bunch of odd letters and symbols.She let out a breath of disappointment and leaned back in her chair. Why did she have to get a weird phone call at this time? Everything was going fairly well in her life. She didn't need some psychos calling her and telling her strange things.She stared at her desk for a while, and then got up. She needed a break right now.She stood up and walked over to her door, grabbing her jacket on the way. Now she was going to be forced to think about a "double agent" and who it was exactly she was supposed to stay away from.It was going to be another drinking night for her.

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	10. Winning Heartbreakers

_**A Daughter's Will**_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters. Only what I create with my twisted mind is mine.

**A/N: **And here's chapter 10. I'd like to take this moment and thank the TEN people who have taken the time to review me. So, thanks a TON and much love to:

DarkFairy88  
Chikara-Yuy  
Mithros  
LucreziaNoin86  
Zammy  
Computer Geek Michelle  
Kelsey  
Garowyn  
Sutoomu  
and AutomatedRose

You guys made me want to work some more at keeping this fic going. Believe me, a few good words and some positive criticism goes a long way. Thanks again, and, as always, R&R, and I'll see you next chapter. ;)

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Jacob gently laid Elysia onto Theo's bed, while Theo stood nearby watching. She had fallen asleep on the ride over to see Jade at her condo, since she wasn't working today. This, of course, scared Jacob deeply, as he hadn't noticed her dozing off, and was already worried about her health.  
Jade had merely shook this all off and told Jacob that Elysia just needed to take her medication, and that she was perfectly fine.  
Jacob, though, got a bit peeved, as Elysia seemed to be in worse condition. But, Jade was her doctor, so all he could do was listen to her directions.  
He had driven Elysia back to Theo's home and carried her up to his apartment. He had managed to wake Theo up and get him out of his bed, so that she could lay down somewhere.  
Not that Theo didn't mind, since he was suddeny worried about her, upon seeing Jacob carrying her through his door. He grabbed ahold of one of her hands and was holding it, lightly massaging it. He hated seeing her like this.  
He looked up to Jacob and sighed. "I'm going to sleep on the couch, so you figure out where you're going to go."  
Jacob just shrugged and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I have to stay near her. You have a chair I can sit in?"Theo nodded, still tired from his long night of work. "Yeah, sure. I'll go get it from the kitchen right now." He took one last look at Elysia, before exiting his room.  
Jacob looked down at his sleeping cousin, mad at himself for not preventing another one of the females around from getting sick or hurt. He was really bad at taking care of the women in his life.  
He looked up as Theo returned a few minutes later, carrying one of his dining room chairs. He set it down against the wall next to the doorway and motioned silently for Jacob to sit. As Jacob stood up, Theo stood still, looking away from him.  
"What's going on with you and Caterina?" he asked softly. Jacob made a face, wondering why the hell Theo even cared and pulled the chair back from the wall a bit, before sitting down in it backwards. "What are you talking about? Why would you even ask me something like that?"  
Theo gave a shrug. "I'm just wondering... Since Quatre has been frantic about her being gone, and you obviously haven't seen her lately either... Did you two have a fight?"  
Jacob looked away. Theo was right about him not hearing from Caterina, but he didn't want to let on that he was right. But...  
"We haven't had any fights, as far as I can tell. Everything's been peachy keen, up until the other night with Elysia. That day was particularly hard for Cat, wedding wise. Those photos of her really screwed things up for her and upset her deeply..." He looked back to Theo, staring him directly in the eyes. "But she was fine, from what I saw. I'm really..." He looked down and sighed, not wanting to share his feelings with Theo Barton, of all people. "I'm worried she's done something to hurt herself, is all. I'm pretty sure she went for a drive to clear her head, as she usually does when things get too hard for her. I'm just hoping that she hasn't done anything to ... you, know..." He didn't want to say that he was worried about her doing something permanent. Something bad or terrible.  
Theo nodded and crossed his arms. "Again, I'm just asking. I find it odd that she hasn't spoken to anyone this past day, especially you. It makes me wonder what Ms. WInner is up to."  
Jacob nodded.  
They both didn't want to say their worse fears out loud. They didn't want to talk about Caterina getting caught in one of the riots or getting attacked by the same people who attacked her mother earlier that week.  
They brooded for a while longer, before Theo sighed and left the room. "Well, I'm off to couch."  
Jacob smirked a little at him and waved a bit. "Goodnight, princess."  
Theo held back saying something in return and just went to his couch. "Whatever, man. Just don't break my chair."  
Jacob held back a laugh and shook his head. He looked to his sleeping cousin and sighed, getting back into his "guard" mode. He hoped that she was at least feeling better.

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It had been four days now. Four days since she ceased all coversation with her friends and family. Four short days since she'd lost a lot of her life to those wretched photos and that threatening phone call.  
She hated that man with every fiber of her being. She hated how he'd forced her to put her life on hold. She had to wait for that damn deadline to discuss with him her next course of action. And she still wasn't quite sure what that was yet.  
She'd already come close to figuring something out. A bargain of some sort. Something that wasn't quite Elysia's head on a platter, but decently close. She really didn't think money would be worth anything to him, though.  
She sighed as she rose up from the hotel bed she'd been friends with now these last couple of days. She had been hanging around some cheap hotel on the bad side of the LX4 colony.  
She was on her way back to the home she'd shared with her parents her entire life, up until she moved out last year. But upon getting to the colony, she'd grown wary of walking home. And being there. She wasn't ready to face her mother or father yet after those embarrassing pictures. She wanted to be alone for a bit longer.  
So, she took a cab to the only hotel her father never took her too. It wasn't a bad one, per se. It was just the "bargain" version of the fancy, expensive ones she was used to being at. But she was beginning to appreciate the cheapness of it. She had extra money to drink with.  
As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she thought of what other lame activity she would do today. She hadn't done much the last couple days, except think, shop, and drink. Not as much as she wanted, but enough to keep her buzzed.  
Although now...  
A thought went through her mind as she realized that she hadn't seen her dear cousins for a long time. And now was the perfect opportunity to gather the girls around and have a night of wild partying like they used to do. She smiled as she remembered all the crazy nights that she and her older cousins had, bar and clubhopping from colony to colony or earth, doing everything possible that would shame their parents and the Winner name if it ever got out.  
But they were careful about where they went and what they did. They even managed to pass themselves off as a club, the "Winning Heartbreakers" club. It was a cheesy name, but her cousin Mary had come up with it, as it was a spin on their shared last name, and, well, truthful. The Winner girls were well known to lure, date, and dump every man possible. Sheila Marie set a record once by doing that to an entire club in one night. She had earned herself many victory drinks for that, as well as phone numbers.  
Caterina looked down to the floor, looking for her purse. She was ready to call Bethany, the oldest Winner child, and the best person to call when she wanted to gather the girls. Bethany was a big mouth.  
She found her small bag and picked it up, digging around inside, until she found her teal phone. She pulled it out and dialed Bethany's number, noting that the time was well past 12 in the afternoon. She didn't care, though, that she had slept in late again. It wasn't really hurting anyone.  
When Bethany answered the phone, seemingly surprised to hear from Caterina, Caterina merely laughed and got into her silly teenage girl persona. "Bethy, hi! I was just thinking about you!"  
Bethany's high voice showed her confusion as she asked," Oh, you were? Why? What's up? Uncle's been calling around for you. Everybody is on Winner Watch right now."  
Caterina snorted and leaned back on the bed, staring off to the ceiling. "Oh, that figures. I guess I should give him a ring later and let him know I'm alive... Anyways, I was here thinking and I suddenly got an idea."  
"An idea, huh? Is it what I think it is?" Bethany actually sounded excited.  
"Yep, Bethy. Gather the girls and the W.H. Club. We're going drinking tonight!"

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Jennifer smiled broadly at Jonathan as she watched him walk up to her. She'd been waiting in front of the store for a while now. Not that he had been keeping her waiting. She had just been too excited to see him again, and had gotten there early. She had managed to get some shopping in, being sure to by some small figurines for a new collection she had begun, and had stood in front of the shop patiently afterwards.As he approached her, she noticed that he was smiling back just as big.  
"I see you dressed up," she said as he drew near, giving her a small hug, before wrapping an arm around her shoulders.  
He laughed as they began to walk away and shrugged. "Well, I _am_ visiting your family. It'd be a good idea to give them a good first impression."  
Jennifer smiled some more and shook her head. "You really planned this out, didn't you?"  
"Of course!" Jonathan actually appeared somewhat surprised as he looked at her. "C'mon, do you really think I just go along and wing it?"  
Jennifer shrugged. "Well, you did give me that impression." She looked around curiously at their surroundings, wondering where it was exactly they were going. There wasn't a cemetary near the Plaza or in walking distance as far as she could remember.  
"Yeah, well, still. I do think ahead.. sometimes." He paused in his steps and looked to her. "Now, I'm going to drive you over, if you don't mind getting in my car."  
Jennifer looked up at him, perplexed vy the question. "Why wouldn't I get in a car with you?"  
He turned down a small street leading to a parking lot, leaving her standing, and waved for her to follow. "Because I'm just so damn good looking that I might kill you with just a simple glance."  
Jennifer shook her head at his answer as she walked over to catch up to him. "Pfft, maybe if I were a mirror."  
Jonathan had reached his car and was now holding a door open for her. He seemed taken aback from her answer and grabbed his chest in mock pain. "Ouch. That was a quick one and kind of hurt a little."  
Jennifer tried not to laugh as she climbed into his jeep. "You'll get over it. Men are stupid and forget things easily."  
Jonathan let out a laugh as he shut the door and went around to the driver's side. "Oh, really?" he asked when he opened the door. "And what makes you say that?"  
Jennifer raised her eyebrows at him as he buckled himself in. "Seriously? That's too easy." When he looked at her expectantly, she sighed and looked out the window. "Well, try the whole concept of 'oh, it's our anniversary?' bit. Guys tend to forget simple dates and figures, unless it has to do with something _they_ like."  
Jonathan started the car and laughed some more. "Actually, we _choose_ to remember certain things, because they interest us, not bore us."  
He pulled the car out and got onto the road, as Jennifer thought his answer over. "I suppose," she mused. She looked to him while he drove. "But you're really making a bad name for yourselves."  
Jonathan shrugged this off. "Eh.. It's not like it bothers me.  
Jennifer shook her head and looked back out the window to the passing scenery. "Whatever you say, buddy."  
They drove along for a bit of time, enjoying the comfortable silence. After a while of seeing the city fade into trees and then into small neighborhoods, Jennifer glanced back to Jonathan, her curiousity getting the best of her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're going to kill me and hide my body in some secluded spot."  
Jonathan laughed and shook his head. "I know, it _is_ a bit of a long, confusing ride. When I first went to find the place, I began to wonder if the directions I were given was just a cruel prank set on me by my colleagues."  
Jennifer stared at him questiongingly at that. "Why would they go and do that to you?"  
Jonathan gave a slight shrug and looked down, a bit guiltily. "Yeah, the shenanagins of my co-workers and I should be saved for another day... "He looked over to her and smiled weakly. "Let's just say that I'm the guy everybody wants to target, because I'm just that darn good at pulling pranks."  
Jennifer laughed at that, shaking her head in amazement. "Wow, so you're telling me that I'm with the King of pranks? I feel so honored to be in your presence."  
The pair laughed some more and continued their conversation, already expecting the day to turn out well.

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Theo looked up as he walked through the front gates of the factory when he heard his name being called.  
_Who could that be now?_  
He frowned when he realized that the factory owner was standing at the front doorway, waving to him. What could that man possibly want with him now? He had just gotten to work to do his shift.  
He walked a tad slow to delay his conversation, but the owner had no qualms about shouting across the way. "There you are, my boy! I've been waiting all day for you!"  
Theo made a face as he drew near. "What for? My shift doesn't start for another ten minutes."  
He looked to the two men he saw standing watch nearby. They were both rather short and old, but that didn't stop them from looking at him intimidatedly.  
He held back his contempt and looked back to his boss.  
"Well, it has nothing to do with your shift. Remember how I talked to you the other day about our new owner?"  
Theo stared at the owner curiously, and nodded. _I hope this doesn't cut into my work time._  
The owner turned from him and went to walk into the building, clearly expecting Theo to follow. "Well, he's here today. I'd like you to meet him."  
Theo froze at that, not understanding the feeling of dread that had come over him. There was no reason for him to feel the way he was, but he couldn't help it. There was something ominous in the air.  
He breathed in deeply and tried to concentrate on something else. He couldn't let this get to him, or at least let it show.  
He followed the owner to one of the main rooms of the building, turning this way and that in the hallways, as the the owner droned on about business protocol and the new owner.  
"I want you two to _really_ get along, all right? No competiton nonsense and such. Just do your job and let him do his, and we'll all be happy."  
He opened a door to a meeting room and walked in, holding it open for Theo with his right arm, and motioned for him to enter. He was already talking to the other man inside, Theo assuming it was the new owner.  
His boss had glanced at him shortly, telling him, "Shut that door, while you're there," before returning to his conversation with the other man.  
Theo, who had his back to the owner this whole time, went and closed the door. He turned afterwards and wasn't really focusing on anything in particular, waiting patiently for his boss to stop talking. The ceiling tiles were actually becoming rather interesting to him at the moment and he began counting all the little specks that he could see on them.  
It was then his boss had said it. "Oh, and I'd like you to meet our head night guard." He turned to Theo and waved him over. "Theo, my boy, come shake Friedrich's hand."  
Theo turned to better face the men and walked over. This was when he got a good look at the other man.  
And he stopped in his steps, his breath drawing in quickly.  
He knew this man. He'd already known this man for years.  
Since that night, that horrid, tragic, painful night so long ago. This man's face was the face he saw for so many nights after that, the face that haunted him for years, in his dreams, through nightmares, and normal everyday activities. The horribly evil face that had just smiled at him, just as it had smiled at his mother.  
The face of the man who had murdered his mother that one night.  
He tried to hold back his surprise, shock, and anger that rose inside him, hoping that the other two hadn't noticed.  
He couldn't believe who he was seeing.This was something he never thought would happen to him  
His boss nudged him, and he realized that he hadn't shaken the man's hand yet. He didn't want to. He _couldn't_.  
But if he didn't... Then they'd know. They'd catch on. And things would, _might_ get worse.  
He stiffly reached out, deeply regretting this as he did so, praying that he wouldn't catch any of the evil that this man reeked of.  
They shook, Theo tightening his grip as hard as he could, as a means of showing Friedrich that he was strong and dangerous.  
Friedrich merely gave a slight laugh as he pulled back his hand. "Wow, now that's a handshake. Do you do this for all the boys, or just me?" He was still smiling at him.  
How Theo wished he could slap that smile off of him. And take away this man's life. How hard it was for him not to beat the man and pull his gun out on him right now.  
He didn't answer Friedrich's question, except for a stony gaze.  
Friedrich seemed unfazed and turned his attention back to Theo's boss. "He's a strong boy. It's a good thing we have him working for us." He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his face and hands, much to Theo's contempt. If anything _Theo_ should be the one wiping his hands.  
As the two men continued on with their conversation, Theo worked on holding back his anger and disgust. It was taking all in his power not to do anything. Now wouldn't be the best time to do this. Especially when his boss was right there. It wasn't that he feared losing his job. He just didn't want any witnesses.  
After what seemed like a long conversation, the two men ended their discussion and prepared to leave.  
"It was nice seeing you again, Friedrich," Theo's boss was saying."Thanks for stopping by and getting the tour. I'll see you next week when you start."  
Friedrich nodded and edged himself out to get to the door. "Not a problem. Thank _you_, James for letting me swing by on such short notice."  
He looked to Theo as he walked out. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. Barton. I look forward to us working together." He said another thank you to Theo's boss, before exiting.  
Theo waited for his boss to leave the room, before he began to kick the table and chairs nearby in anger. He grabbed one of the chairs and flung into across the room, so angry with what had just happened. He slammed his fist down on a table, ignoring the pain that erupted in his hand, wanting nothing more than to pound that heartless monster to a bloodly pulp and take away his life, just as he'd done to his mother.  
He threw himself on the table and rested his head in his hands, holding back his tears of frustration and hurt.  
He was grateful, though. He now had the chance to avenge his mother's death. But he didn't like the way it came about to him. He would have to make do, though.  
He stayed there a few minutes longer, trying to calm down as he thought of what he was going to have to do now, and then pulled himself away from the table, walking out so that he could get back to work. His mother would have to wait just a little longer.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Caterina was having the time of her life. Well, sort of. She wasn't all that happy on the inside. But her many, many drinks were doing well to cover that. She was giggling hysterically, as her cousin, Gia, had made a joke about the bartender. She wasn't sure if it was even funny, but the glass of whiskey in front of her told her otherwise.At that moment, her other two cousins, Sariana and Margey, walked up to them at the bar, pouting.  
"Catty, that guy turned me down!" Sariana wailed. She sat down next to Caterina, as Margey elbowed her way to the bar between the many Winner woman of the W.H. Club. Sariana motioned to the bartender for a drink and threw herself on the counter dramatically. "That's never happened in the history of the club!"  
Margey giggled as she grabbed Caterina's glass and took a large gulp of it. "Maybe we should kick you out or something for not living up to our name," she said drunkenly.  
Sariana grabbed the two shotglasses that the bartender had placed in front of her and drank them down quickly. "You can't do that! It wasn't my fault!" she whined.  
"I beg to differ, little sister," Sheila Marie had said a few people away from the girls. "If the guy wasn't interested in you, you must have done something wrong. It's your fault for being unappealing."  
Sariana said nothing more, but sat there brooding, sticking her lower lip out pitifully.  
Bethany, though, chimed in. "But we never did establish rules for the proper etiquette on what to do when this happens."  
Caterina glanced to her other cousins who were now joining in on the conversation.  
This time, Lullabelle was adding her two cents. "That's because it was unheard of that men would actually turn _us_ down."  
Margey shrugged. "Well, it's happened now. So, what are we going to do about it?" She snapped her fingers at Gia.  
Gia passed Margey her glass and watched her as she drank it. "Well, what _can_ we do? We never had rules for it, so there was obviously a good reason for it."  
"But it still happened. I say now's a good time more than ever to establish some rules!" The club's most quiet female, Lillian, had said this.  
They all looked to her in surprise, but shrugged it off and drank some more.  
"I agree!" Lullabelle added.  
"Me too," Margey said.  
"Well, I guess we're taking this to vote," Bethany muttered. She glanced around the bar. "Is everybody here?"  
"Trixie and Madison are in the bathroom," Sariana said.  
"And Barbara, Mary, Allison, and Stevie are on the dance floor," Gia continued.  
Bethany frowned and looked around some more. "Then where's Joanie?"  
"I saw her making out with some guy," Liliian said sullenly. "I don't think her vote should count right now."  
"Why not?" Margey asked.  
Caterina, at this point, was starting to feel a bit queasy, and a bit annoyed. She hated when the girls wanted to put things to vote. It was such a big hassle rounding up every singe Winner girl present in the club. There was just so many of them. In fact, she wasn't even going to mention that she saw her other three cousins, Remie, Lola, and Nikki, leave the club with the same guy Lillian said she saw Joanie with. That would cause a nice lovely uproar.  
She stood up shakily, trying to keep her balance as she grabbed her purse.  
"Hey, where are you going, Cat?" Bethany asked. "I was just doing a head count, before we voted."  
"I'm going out for some air," Caterina answered sickly. She reached out and chugged down the rest of her drink. "I'll be back."  
"But you have to vote!" Sariana shouted.  
Caterina was already walking away, but paused long enough to say," Bah. I vote for... monkeys then."  
Her cousins watched her worriedly, then shook this off and went back to their vote.  
As Caterina made her way out of the club, she tapped the shoulder of her cousin Cicily who happened to be with a guy by the exit. "They're doing a vote right now," she told her.  
"Oh, no! I can't miss that!" Cicily then grabbed the guy she was with by the shirt and dragged him over to the bar. "Guys, wait for me!"  
Caterina laughed at this as she walked unsteadily out, her body shaking uncontrollably. Soon, she was flat out cracking up. She laughed hard as she stood outside of the club, gasping for air.  
"There you are!"a familiar deep voice shouted.  
She abruptly stopped laughing and turned in the direction of the voice. "Oh, it's just you," she muttered, turning back and started to walk off.  
"Cat!" Jacob ran to grab her by the arm. "Where are you going? Where have you been? I've been worried about you and looking all over the place!"  
Caterina yanked her arm away and glared at him. "How? You're supposed to be watching Elysia!"  
He stopped walking and looked down slighty, not knowing how to answer. He looked to her, his blue eyes solemn. "What the hell has gotten into you?! Everybody's been freaking out, wondering what happened to you!"  
Caterina rolled her eyes and walked a little faster, even though she knew she couldn't outrun his long legs, especially in her drunken state. "I'm fine!" As she said this, her foot caught on something, and she tripped, falling to the sidewalk roughly.  
Jacob quickly rushed to her side and tried to help her up, but she jerked away from him. "Don't touch me!" she screamed.  
He pulled back slightly, not knowing what to make of her behavior. As she stood up and straightened her clothes out, he crossed his arms, maintaining a a safe distance from her. "What's wrong, Caterina? Why are you acting like this?"  
She turned to face him, glaring deeply. "What are you talking about? I'm acting like I usually do!"  
Jacob just stared at her (confusedly/angry). "What have you been doing these last few days?" It was then that he caught a whiff of her. His eyes widened. "Have you been drinking nonstop?!"  
Caterina rolled her eyes again and turned down the sidewalk, trying to remember where she left her limo driver waitng. "Oh, come off it. I'm a grown woman. I can do whatever I want. What do you care?"  
Jacob grew infuriated by that. He ran up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her to face him and shook her. "What do _I_ care? I'm your fucking fiance'! What you do _is_ my business! Especially when you take off for five days without saying a damn word to anyone!"  
Caterina was a bit in shock by this, but she quickly recovered and tried to pull away from his grip. "Oh, wow, _now_ you suddenly care about my well-being and what I do! Never mind the many times I've called you or asked you to come see me, and you've been 'too busy at work or some other bullshit like like that!" She was really letting it all out now. She'd managed to get away from him and stand two feet away. "Ol' Jakey's too busy to do anything, not even help plan his stupid wedding to his whorey girlfriend!" she said, making quotation marks with her fingers to signify quoting what the newspapers said about her. "Except he's not too busy to watch another girl twenty-four hours a fucking day!"  
"You know why I have to watch Elysia, Caterina," Jacob said darkly, his blue eyes flashing in anger.  
Caterina made a face at that. "Oooh, big deal! Jacob's getting mad now!" She was starting to cry now, much to both of their surprise. "What are you going to do about it? Hit me? Beat me as if I were a criminal terrorist?!"  
Jacob, taken aback by her tears, tried to calm down. "Cat, what's wrong? Tell me, please," he begged.  
"What's wrong? Do you really want to know?" She had been backing up this whole time, but now she took some steps closer to him, looking him in the eyes. "I've been planning a damn wedding all by myself! For four straight months! With no help from anybody, not even you!" The tears were flowing heavily now from her eyes. "And do you know what I get for it? Do you know what I get for all my hard work and dedication?!" She paused to wipe the tears from her face. "Three burned down churches, no reception hall, no caterer, cheap flowers, a crappy tailor, my mother attacked, nude pictures of me plastered all over the damn galaxy..." She trailed off, not wanting to add more to her misery. She was still trying to forget that awful phone call. She looked down as she sniffled, hating herself and everything at that very moment. She looked up at Jacob, who was softening at her rant. Which wasn't what she wanted.  
She shoved him and backed away from him, ready to hit him again. "And the icing on the cake is that my dear, loving, _caring_, fiance' isn't here to help me! You're too damn busy! And I'm forced to sit there and plan and gather, and call, and reserve, and for what?! For all I know, you'll get yourself killed on one of your stupid missions your own father sends you on! Or you'll get caught in the riots! Or attacked by weirdos asking for Elysia! Or something else!" She was crying harder now, as she had let out her deepest fears. "I'm constantly worrying about you, my parents, or everybody else, and I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't... " She stumbled on her words, not wanting to say this, of all things. She covered her mouth and looked tearfully at Jacob, shaking her head.  
"You shouldn't _what_, Cat?" he said, monotously, unaffected by her earlier display of violence.  
She sniffled a bit and averted her gaze. "That I .. I shouldn't marry you!" Upon saying the words, she grabbed ahold of her hand and yanked the engagement ring Jacob had given her off of her finger. "I can't have this, Jacob. I can't take any more of this!" She looked up into his blue eyes as she backed away. "I can't marry you."  
She didn't want to do what she did next. She would have much rather hand it to him like he deserved, but she couldn't bear touching him right now. She couldn't be anywhere near him.  
She flung the beautiful gold diamond ring at him, and took off down the sidewalk, finding her limo driver at the end of the street. She quickly dove into the car and locked the door before he could catch up to her.  
Her driver seemed to know that it was time to leave. He started the limo and pulled out into the street.  
She stayed laying face down on the seat, sobbing from what had just happened. She didn't want to look at him as they drove by. It was just too hard.  
Meanwhile, Jacob had picked up the ring, and was staring at it. He was in shock from what she'd said to him, and was, understandably, upset. He couldn't believe what had just happened. And why.  
He gently put it into his front pocket of his jacket and watched as Caterina's limo driver took off down the street. He stood there silently, unsure of what to do next, his heart broken.

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End file.
